Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Friendship is not to be sought for its wages, but because its revenue consists entirely in the love which it implies.
That is probable which for the most part usually comes to pass, or which is a part of the ordinary beliefs of mankind.
Were floods of tears to be unloosed In tribute to my grief, The doves of Noah ne'er had roost Nor found an olive-leaf.
It is virtue itself that produces and sustains friendship, not without virtue can friendship by any possibility exist.
Nature ordains that a man should wish the good of every man, whoever he may be, for this very reason that he is a man.
Nothing contributes to the entertainment of the reader more, than the change of times and the vicissitudes of fortune.
Virtue and decency are so nearly related that it is difficult to separate them from each other but in our imagination.
Friendship is nothing else than an accord in all things, human and divine, conjoined with mutual goodwill and affection.
I have always been of the opinion that unpopularity earned by doing what is right is not unpopularity at all, but glory.
Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defense can be just.
Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.
The authors who affect contempt for a name in the world put their names to the books which they invite the world to read.
Vicious habits are so odious and degrading that they transform the individual who practices them into an incarnate demon.
They are eloquent who can speak low things acutely, and of great things with dignity, and of moderate things with temper.
It is disgraceful when the passers-by exclaim, "O ancient house! alas, how unlike is thy present master to thy former one.
I will go further, and assert that nature without culture can often do more to deserve praise than culture without nature.
Old age, especially an honored old age, has so great authority, that this is of more value than all the pleasures of youth.
It is virtue, virtue, which both creates and preserves friendship. On it depends harmony of interest, permanence, fidelity.
This is our special duty, that if anyone specially needs our help, we should give him such help to the utmost of our power.
Take from a man his reputation for probity, and the more shrewd and clever he is, the more hated and mistrusted he becomes.
Prudence must not be expected from a man who is never sober. [Lat., Non est ab homine nunquam sobrio postulanda prudentia.]
Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.
There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment.
The wise man knows nothing if he cannot benefit from his wisdom. Wisdom is not only to be acquired, but also to be utilized.
Nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing more suited to a great and illustrious man than placability and a merciful disposition.
Hmm... That's like telling you about the cold of space, or terror of midnight. Sithis is all those things. He is... the Void.
If a man cannot feel the power of God when he looks upon the stars, then I doubt whether he is capable of any feeling at all.
For what people have always sought is equality before the law. For rights that were not open to all alike would be no rights.
He is an eloquent man who can treat humble subjects with delicacy, lofty things impressively, and moderate things temperately.
I depart from life as from an inn, and not as from my home. [Lat., Ex vita discedo, tanquam ex hospitio, non tanquam ex domo.]
The eyes, like sentinels, hold the highest place in the body. [Lat., Oculi, tanquam, speculatores, altissimum locum obtinent.]
The well-known old remark of Cato, who used to wonder how two soothsayers could look one another in the face without laughing.
Of all the rewards of virtue, . . . the most splendid is fame, for it is fame alone that can offer us the memory of posterity.
For there is assuredly nothing dearer to a man than wisdom, and though age takes away all else, it undoubtedly brings us that.
The swan is not without cause dedicated to Apollo, because foreseeing his happiness in death, he dies with singing and pleasure.
The habit of arguing in support of atheism, whether it be done from conviction or in pretense, is a wicked and impious practice.
You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long. [Lat., Mature fieri senem, si diu velis esses senex.]
That which is usually called dotage is not the weak point of all old men, but only of such as are distinguished by their levity.
True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can any feigned thing be lasting.
Nothing is so swift as calumny, nothing is more easily propagated, nothing more readily credited, nothing more widely circulated.
No one sees what is before his feet: we all gaze at the stars. [Lat., Quod est ante pedes nemo spectat: coeli scrutantur plagas.]
According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another.
Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defence can actually be just.
Death is not natural for a state as it is for a human being, for whom death is not only necessary, but frequently even desirable.
True glory takes root, and even spreads; all false pretences, like flowers, fall to the ground; nor can any counterfeit last long.
In men of the highest character and noblest genius there is to be found an insatiable desire for honor, command, power, and glory.
The long time to come when I shall not exist has more effect on me than this short present time, which nevertheless seems endless.
The first bond of society is the marriage tie; the next our children; then the whole family of our house, and all things in common.
As the scale of the balance must give way to the weight that presses it down, so the mind must of necessity yield to demonstration.
I cheerfully quit from life as if it were an inn, not a home; for Nature has given us a hostelry in which to sojourn, not to abide.