Quotes
Quotes about Man
In the morning, when thou art sluggish at rousing thee, let this thought be present; "I am rising to a man's work."
A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season.
Do not think that what is hard for thee to master is impossible for man; but if a thing is possible and proper to man, deem it attainable by thee.
If any man can convince me and bring home to me that I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.
How many, once lauded in song, are given over to the forgotten; and how many who sung their praises are clean gone long ago!
A man's happiness,--to do the things proper to man.
He would be the finer gentleman that should leave the world without having tasted of lying or pretence of any sort, or of wantonness or conceit.
A wrong-doer is often a man that has left something undone, not always he that has done something.
Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life,--there, if one must speak out, the real man.
Alcæus mentions Aristodemus in these lines:--
'T is money makes the man; and he who's none
Is counted neither good nor honourable.
Solon gave the following advice: "Consider your honour, as a gentleman, of more weight than an oath. Never tell a lie. Pay attention to matters of importance."
He used to say that it was better to have one friend of great value than many friends who were good for nothing.
There are many marvellous stories told of Pherecydes. For it is said that he was walking along the seashore at Samos, and that seeing a ship sailing by with a fair wind, he said that it would soon sink; and presently it sank before his eyes. At another time he was drinking some water which had been drawn up out of a well, and he foretold that within three days there would be an earthquake; and there was one.
Anaximander used to assert that the primary cause of all things was the Infinite,--not defining exactly whether he meant air or water or anything else.
Anaxagoras said to a man who was grieving because he was dying in a foreign land, "The descent to Hades is the same from every place."
Often when he was looking on at auctions he would say, "How many things there are which I do not need!"
Aristippus said that a wise man's country was the world.
Plato affirmed that the soul was immortal and clothed in many bodies successively.
Of a rich man who was niggardly he said, "That man does not own his estate, but his estate owns him."
The question was put to him, what hope is; and his answer was, "The dream of a waking man."
Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered, "To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws."
It was a favourite expression of Theophrastus that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.
One of the sayings of Diogenes was that most men were within a finger's breadth of being mad; for if a man walked with his middle finger pointing out, folks would think him mad, but not so if it were his forefinger.
Plato having defined man to be a two-legged animal without feathers, Diogenes plucked a cock and brought it into the Academy, and said, "This is Plato's man." On which account this addition was made to the definition,--"With broad at nails."
A man once asked Diogenes what was the proper time for supper, and he made answer, "If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can."
