Ancient Greek philosophy can still teach us a lot today. The worldview of ancient philosophers is striking in its optimism, virtue and wisdom. Below in quotes are 9 life principles professed by the most famous ancient philosophers Ancient Greece.
A person should do what he loves. Only in this case will he succeed. It's better to be good carpenter than a bad banker. Sincere love for your work is your calling.
“Work done with pleasure allows you to achieve excellence”- Aristotle.
“It is better to do a small part of a task perfectly than to do ten times as much poorly.”- Aristotle
“Never do anything you don’t know, but learn everything you need to know.”- Pythagoras
“Each person is worth exactly as much as the cause for which he cares is worth.”- Epicurus.
“Where a person resists, there is his prison.”- Epictetus.
The biggest obstacle for a person in this world is himself. Other obstacles and unfavorable circumstances are the reason to look for new opportunities and unexpected ideas.
“A man who is dissatisfied with few things is not satisfied with anything.”- Epicurus.
“When leaving for a foreign land, don’t look back”- Pythagoras.
"Live today, forget the past"- ancient Greek proverb.
“Small opportunities often become the beginning of great enterprises.”- Demosthenes.
“The great science of living happily is to live only in the present”- Pythagoras.
"First and best win- this is a victory over oneself"- Plato.
“For their misfortunes, people tend to blame fate, the gods, and everything else, but not themselves” - Plato.
Nobody knows you better than you. In life you will come across many people who will share their ideas, opinions and vision with you various situations. You will meet many people who will give you free advice on how you should manage your life. Listen without judgment, draw conclusions, but follow the dictates of your heart - ancient philosophers urge in their aphorisms.
“Learn to listen and you can benefit even from those who speak ill of you.”- Plutarch.
"First of all, don't lose your self-respect"- Pythagoras.
“Learn to be silent, let your cold mind listen and heed”- Pythagoras.
“Whatever they think of you, do what you think is fair. Be equally impartial to both blame and praise."- Pythagoras.
“If you live in harmony with nature, you will never be poor, and if you live in harmony with human opinion, you will never be rich.”- Epicurus.
Replace fears and misgivings with faith and hope. Humility, love and faith can work miracles. Everything will happen at the right time and in the right place.
"Hope is a daydream"- Aristotle.
“No fruit ripens suddenly, neither a bunch of grapes nor a fruit fig tree. If you tell me that you want figs, I will tell you that time will have to pass. Let the tree bloom first, and then the fruits ripen."- Epictetus.
The ancient Greeks preached: “Think positive thoughts.” If negative thoughts fill your head, wave them goodbye and replace them with positive thoughts of beauty, happiness and love. Focus on the present, and the things for which you are grateful to God. Stay away negative people around you and always surround yourself with happy and positive people.
“Fear and sadness that have taken possession of a person for a long time are conducive to illness”- Hippocrates.
“The human brain contains the cause of many diseases”- Hippocrates.
“Happiness depends on ourselves”- Aristotle.
“The brain is the place where pleasure, laughter and joy arise. From it come melancholy, sorrow and crying.”- Hippocrates.
6. Improve yourself and discover new horizons for yourself.
“Explore everything, give the mind first place”- Pythagoras.
“Work, good spirits and the striving of the mind for perfection, for knowledge lead to results that decorate life”- Hippocrates.
7. In difficult situations, look for strength and courage within yourself.
“Courage is a virtue by virtue of which people perform wonderful deeds in danger.”- Aristotle.
“People need courage and fortitude not only against the weapons of enemies, but also against any blows of fate.”- Plutarch.
“You don’t develop the courage to be happy in a relationship every day. You will develop it into hard times and through all kinds of adversity"- Epicurus.
"You will never do anything in this world without courage. This is the greatest quality in a person and should be honored."- Aristotle.
8. Forgive yourself and others for mistakes.
Treat your mistakes positively as useful experience, which will help you ultimately achieve your dreams. Mistakes and failures are inevitable.
“It is better to expose your own mistakes than others”- Democritus.
“To live and not make a single mistake is not in the power of man, but it is good to learn wisdom in the future from your mistakes.”- Plutarch.
“To make no mistakes is a property of the gods, but not of man.”- Demosthenes.
“Every business is improved by mastering technology. Every skill is achieved through exercise."- Hippocrates.
9. Virtue and compassion.
The views of ancient Greek philosophers echo the later Christianity. It is no coincidence that medieval Christian theologians called Aristotle a spontaneous Christian, although he lived long before the birth of Jesus Christ.
"What is a sense of life? Serve others and do good"- Aristotle.
“Live with people so that your friends do not become enemies, and your enemies become friends”- Pythagoras.
“Boys stone frogs for fun, but frogs really die.”- Plutarch.
“We crave and strive for immortality, which is alien to our nature, and power, which depends mostly on luck, and we put moral perfection, the only divine blessing available to us, in last place.”- Plutarch.
“Two things make a man godlike: living for the good of society and truthfulness.”- Pythagoras.
« For the sun to rise, there is no need for prayers or spells; it suddenly begins to send its rays to the joy of everyone. So don’t wait for applause, noise, or praise to do good—do good deeds voluntarily—and you will be loved like the sun.”- Epictetus.
“Always prefer a short but honest life to a long but shameful life”- Epictetus.
“Burning yourself, shine for others”- Hippocrates.
“By caring for the happiness of others, we find our own”- Plato.
“A person who has received a benefit must remember it all his life, and a person who has shown a benefit must immediately forget about it.”- Demosthenes.
6th century BC
Knowledge increases ignorance.
Life must be measured as if you have both a lot and a little left to live.
I carry everything I have with me.
Learn to be a good leader in your own home.
Do not preempt thought with your tongue.
Do not encroach on what is beyond your strength.
A person who wants to find a sage must be wise himself.
Don't chase happiness: it is always within you.
Life is like games: some come to compete, others to trade, and the happiest come to watch.
Do great things without promising great things.
Of two people of equal strength, the one who is right is stronger.
The beginning is half of everything.
Do not reason with children, women and people.
Try to be wise first, and learn when you have free time.
Only one deity can possess comprehensive wisdom, and man can only strive for it.
A statue is painted by his appearance, but a man by his deeds.
Joke, like salt, should be consumed in moderation.
True words are not graceful, graceful words are not true.
He who is dead but not forgotten is immortal.
Look at the matter as difficult, and in the end it will not be difficult.
By striving for little you gain, by striving for much you fall into error.
Everything for everything, always.
For never in this world does hatred cease with hatred, but with the absence of hatred it ceases.
The jug fills from falling drops. A stupid person is filled with evil, even accumulating it little by little.
Learning without reflection is useless, but reflection without learning is also dangerous.
It is enough that the words express the meaning.
Don't do to a person what you don't want to do to yourself.
Be hard on yourself and gentle on others. This way you will protect yourself from human hostility.
He who repeats the old and learns the new can be a leader.
A person has three paths to reason: the path of reflection is the most noble; the path of imitation is the easiest; path personal experience- this is the hardest.
Visiting and listening to evil people is already the beginning of an evil deed.
The word by which you can live your whole life is indulgence.
Paying good for evil is absurd. How then to pay for good?
The madman complains that people don't know him; the sage complains that he does not know people.
I bequeath: do not be zealous in anything.
Choose the middle in everything
You will see the same success as working hard.
It is difficult for a reasonable person to have a long conversation with fools.
But to remain silent all the time is beyond human strength.
There is no one in the world without sin and without reproach.
No, you are strong not to speak, but you are powerless to remain silent.
You cannot step into the same river twice.
Everything flows, everything changes.
Let us not guess at random about the greatest!
When all people's wishes come true, it is no better for them.
Much knowledge does not teach intelligence.
People's opinions are child's play.
If happiness consisted only in bodily pleasures, we would call the bulls happy who found peas to eat.
Nothing comes from nothing.
There is no emptiness at all. For emptiness is nothing. So, that which is nothing cannot exist.
What is called a topic that will change your life. Under pleasant music, you will read quotes taken from the speech of the Dalai Lama on the eve of 2009.
“In reality, everything is completely different than in reality.”
Antoine de Saint Exupery
“It takes two to tell the truth - the storyteller and the listener.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Human disputes are endless not because it is impossible to find the truth - but because those arguing are not looking for truth, but for self-affirmation.”
“God does not send us despair to kill us - He sends it to us to awaken new life in us!”
Hermann Hesse
He who has many vices also has many rulers.
F. Petrarch
“No matter how many mistakes you make and no matter how slowly you move forward, you will still do it faster than those who don’t even try.”
“People were created to be loved, and things were created to be used. The world is in chaos because everything is the other way around.”
Dalai Lama
“Action is everything; reputation is nothing."
“Theory, my friend, is dry, but the tree of life is ever green.”
Johann Wolfang von Goethe
“To see the World in a Grain of Sand,
Heaven is in the Wild Flower,
Squeeze Infinity in the palm of your hand
and Eternity is in an hour.”“Truth is rarely pure - and never simple.”
Oscar Wilde
You should not confuse loneliness and solitude. Loneliness for me is a psychological, mental concept, while solitude is physical. The first dulls, the second calms.
Carlos Castaneda
“There are no stupid people in the world. There are those who see the truth and those who use it..."
Anita Joan Smith
“Giving - do it easily, losing - do it easily, saying goodbye - do it easily
When giving, losing, saying goodbye, don’t be sad about the future, but give thanks to the past.”Ancient Chinese wisdom
F. Bacon
“Be a friend of truth to the point of martyrdom, but do not be its defender to the point of intolerance.”
Pythagoras
“Avoid people who consider impudence to be courage, and soft-heartedness to be weak-willed. And avoid those who believe that chatter is wisdom and silence is ignorance. Don’t you see, lions are silent, but they are feared, and dogs bark loudly, but they are driven away with stones.”
Imam al-Shafi"
“The truth, which has become the property of the crowd, very soon becomes distorted beyond recognition.”
Buffon Georges Louis Leclerc“The surest sign of truth is simplicity and clarity. A lie is always complex, elaborate and verbose.”
L. Tolstoy
“A helpful fool is more dangerous than an enemy.”
I.A. KrylovOne woman had a dream that the Lord stood behind the store counter instead of a salesman.
- God! It's you!
“Yes, I am,” God answered.
– What can I buy from you?
“That’s it,” was the answer.
– Then, I would like to buy health, happiness, love, success, and a lot of money!
God smiled and went to get the ordered goods. Soon He returned with a small cardboard box.
- This is all?! - the woman exclaimed.
“Yes,” God answered calmly, “didn’t you know that I only sell seeds?”“During his lifetime, Chen Zhen often said that he was not like others. But then he died, and his grave is no different from the others. »
Ba Jin
“All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
L. Tolstoy
“The great science of living happily is to live only in the present.” “Take care of the tears of your children so that they may shed them at your grave.” “Do great things without promising great things.” "Friendship is equality."
“When you rise, your friends will know who you are. When you fall, you find out who your friends are."
“Life is like games: some come to compete, others to trade, and the happiest come to watch.”
Pythagoras
“Happy is the one who is prevented from cheating by love, not morality.”
“Think, look for a reason, find a way when faith would make you different - not in external differences, by putting on a badge, which is petty absurdity”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Any person, without explaining anything to him, can be put in prison for ten years, and somewhere in the depths of his soul he will know why.”
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
“A domestic quarrel is a family dispute in which the wife tells her husband that she has nothing more to say, and he is obliged to listen to it for an hour.”
Evan Ezar
“Make sure you get what you want, otherwise you'll have to love what you get.”
George Bernard Shaw
“If you are in your right mind, do not dream that the one who fell into your arms so quickly will be faithful to you.”
Ovid
“Friendship is so holy, sweet, lasting and constant feeling, that you can save it for life, if only you don’t try to borrow money.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“If a woman hates you, it means she loved you, loves you or will love you.”
German proverb
“There is no woman who could say “goodbye” in less than thirty words.”
George Bernard Shaw
“There is only one path to happiness - to stop worrying about things that are beyond our control.”
Epictetus
“Self-indulgence is accompanied by predation on others.”
Gennady Malkin
“From the point of view of youth, life is an infinitely long future; from the point of view of old age - a very short past.”
A. Schopenhauer
“Heroes are not born. Heroes die..."
“Do not judge a man by his friends; do not forget that Judas had impeccable friends.”
“You don’t need to peer into the abyss very often, otherwise the abyss will begin to peer into you.”
“I never resist temptation, for I know from experience that what is harmful to me does not tempt me.”
George Bernard Shaw
Who does not know the value of silence,
He doesn't know the value of words.
Can't be heard in noisy companies
Words that are full of meaningE. Pomytkin
“Life is a mystery that you need to be able to accept and not torment yourself with the constant question: “What is the meaning of my life?” It’s better to fill your life with meaning and things that are important to you.”
P. Coelho
“He who is strong in body can endure both heat and cold. Likewise, someone who is mentally healthy is able to endure anger, grief, joy, and other feelings.”
Epictetus
"Don't speak unless it changes the silence for the better ».
Chinese folk wisdom
“True words are not graceful. Beautiful words not trustworthy. Kind is not eloquent. An eloquent person cannot be kind. He who knows does not prove, he who proves does not know. The sage does not accumulate anything. He does everything for people and gives everything to others. The Heavenly Dao benefits all beings and does not harm them. The Tao of the perfect sage is action without struggle.”
Zhang 81 from the Book of Path and Power.
In the struggle the shield and spear will be exhausted
Each of us will die in the struggle.
You went out to look - so look for yours! -
no one else will give up theirs. You wanted to say the right thing,
but I hurt other people with my words, -
you knew, but they didn't want to know
no one's borrowed ideas. No exit. But where is the entrance
you can just leave the light on
and if someone comes there -
he will know that there is no way out. Then without words, without your ideas,
without persuasion to go forward, -
a lot of very kind people
will follow you silently. They will go without asking -
are you enlightened or in darkness,
just everyone is ready to find
the most important thing on earth. ABOUT! How simple it is - not to suffer!
Silence and give wisdom to the path,
After all, the most important thing is to become a light!
And you can immediately see where to go.
The true calling of everyone consists of only one thing - to come to oneself, to find one’s own, and not a loved one’s, destiny and to surrender to it internally, completely and unshakably.
Hermann Hesse
“And yet death remains forever and ever the only predetermined event for each of us.”
“What would we do if we built the world, brought into being a great being and saw that here something has failed, there is only half in order, and here both are out of place? Now they would intervene, tear it out, destroy it, right?
We would not notice the value contained even in the imperfect, the spark of true light in the failed, we would forget how important it is.”
"Only one step between me and death"
“What is the longest word? Eternity. The shortest now. It doesn't even last a second. Think that now this is the time during which we must prepare for eternity.”
“One should be extremely humble and have nothing to defend, not even one’s own personality. One's own personality must be protected, but not defended.
“If you ignore the enemy and yourself, then you are a complete fool and will definitely be defeated in every battle.
If you know yourself but don't know the enemy, for every battle you win you will lose the next.
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you will win every battle.".Sun Tzu
“Failure is simply an opportunity to start again, but more wisely.”
Henry Ford
“If a problem can be solved, there is no need to worry about it. If a problem cannot be solved, there is no point in worrying about it.”
Dalai Lama
“Even if you are very talented and put in a lot of effort, some results just take time: you won’t get a baby in a month even if you get nine women pregnant.”
Warren Buffett
“Our big flaw is that we give up too quickly. The surest path to success is to always try again.”
Thomas Edison
“The most outstanding talents are ruined by idleness.”
Montaigne
“A smart person loves to learn, a fool loves to teach.”
Bulat Okudzhava
“The best that we are capable of manifests itself in us when we are backed against the wall, when we feel the sword raised above our heads! Personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way!”
Carlos Castaneda
“Do not be timid before the enemy: man’s fiercest enemy is himself.”
Kozma Prutkov
“Only he is worthy of life and freedom who goes to battle for them every day...”
I.V. Goethe
“Truth is not transmitted, truth is perceived.”
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. But they make the best of what they have.”
“If you are upset about something, then you are living in the past, if you are worried about something, you are living in the future, if you are experiencing bliss and lightness, you are living in the present.”
Where are you now?
“We don’t see everything as it is - we see everything as we are.”
“No matter what the rake teaches, the heart believes in miracles”
“Most people are only as happy as they decide to be.”
Lincoln
“Sometimes it’s good to be silent so that you can be heard. And disappear to be noticed"
Keep busy. This is the cheapest medicine on earth - and one of the most effective."
“Real men have a happy woman, others have a strong woman”
“If you managed to kick the ass of the person responsible for most of your troubles, you would not be able to sit for a week.”
“The downside of loneliness is that after a while you start to enjoy it, and you simply don’t let anyone into your life.”
“Courage is not in the strength of the hand or the art of wielding a sword, courage is in self-control.”
“Each of us has only one true calling - to find the path to ourselves.”
Hermann Hoesse
“There are no unattainable goals, there is a high coefficient of laziness, a lack of ingenuity and a stock of excuses.”
“You shouldn’t waste time on a person who doesn’t want to spend it on himself.”
Gabriel Marquez
“Where there are few words, they have weight”
Shakespeare
“There is a Sun in every person, just let it shine”
“Follow your desire and it will follow you. The universe will open doors for you where there used to be walls.”
Joseph Cambale
“The less a person needs, the closer he is to the gods”
Socrates
“Take care of those who love you: they usually come suddenly and leave quietly”
“Don’t lose the worthy... for the sake of the affordable”
“Life begins where your comfort zone ends”
Napoleon Hill
“It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.”
Confucius
“Any goal will be achieved by the one whose deeds, thoughts and words are united!”
“When we lose our sense of self-importance, we become invulnerable.”
“Everyone knows from childhood that such and such is impossible. But there is always an ignoramus who does not know this. He makes discoveries."
Einstein
“Life is not a property to be protected, but a gift to be shared with other people.”
William Faulkner
“Dreams are reality waiting in the wings”
“The temptation to give up is especially strong shortly before victory.”
“The greatest pleasure is to do what others think you cannot do.”
"Does not exist hopeless situations, extra people, chance encounters and wasted time."
“Ancient Wisdom is learned not in order to dominate and command over someone, and not in order to be proud of other Clans. Ancient Wisdom has always been learned in order to realize one’s Life Path, and in order to pass it on to Descendants.”
“When you wake up in the morning, ask yourself: “What should I do?” In the evening, before falling asleep: “What have I done?”
Pythagoras
“If a problem can be solved, there is no need to worry about it. If a problem cannot be solved, there is no point in worrying about it.”
Dalai Lama
“Once in a lifetime, fortune knocks on every person’s door, but at that time a person often sits in the nearest pub and does not hear any knock.”
Mark Twain
“Our big flaw is that we give up too quickly. The surest path to success is to always try again.”
Thomas Edison
“The poor, unsuccessful, unhappy and unhealthy is the one who often uses the word “tomorrow.”
Robert Kiyosaki
“Old people always advise young people to save money. This bad advice. Don't save nickels. Invest in yourself. I never saved a dollar in my life until I was forty.”
Henry Ford
“Hard work is the accumulation of easy things you didn’t do when you should have done them.”
John Maxwell
"I used to say, 'I hope things change.' Then I realized that the only way for everything to change is for me to change.”
Jim Rohn
“Do today what others do not want, tomorrow you will live as others cannot.”
Methuselah lived 969 years. You, dear boys and girls, will see more in the next ten years than Methuselah saw in his entire life.
Mark Twain
If you hate, it means you've been defeated
Confucius
Life itself is a blank canvas, and it will become the way you paint it. You can paint suffering, or you can paint bliss. In this freedom is your greatness.
“Bliss is not something that can be achieved.
It already exists - you are born with it."“There are things that can only appear thanks to you,
and there are things that can only appear when you are not there.
Διογένης, 412-323 π. Χ. Κυνικός φιλόσοφος
Αριστοτέλης, 384-322 π. Χ. Αρχαίος Έλληνας Φιλόσοφος
Πλάτων, 427-347 π. Χ. Φιλόσοφος
Σωκράτης, 469-399 π. Χ. Φιλόσοφος
Πυθαγόρας ο Σάμιος, Μαθηματικός - Αστρονόμος - Φιλόσοφος, 569 - 500 π. Χ.
Alexander the Great (Alexander the Great) (356-323 BC) king of Macedonia, commander
Alexander the Great, having argued with a musician about some issues of harmony, thought that he had convinced him. However, he, smiling slightly, said: “May no such misfortune befall you, king, so that you understand this better than me.”
You will get as much land as is enough for your burial. (Indian sages - Alexander the Great).
There is nothing more slavish than luxury and bliss, and nothing more royal than labor.
Alexander said that sleep and intimacy with a woman, more than anything else, make him feel mortal, since fatigue and voluptuousness stem from the same weakness of human nature.
When those close to him asked Alexander, who was distinguished by his quick feet, if he would like to compete in a race on Olympic Games, he replied: “Yes, if my rivals are kings!”
I owe it to Philip that I live, and to Aristotle that I live with dignity.
If I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes.
When Darius offered him [Alexander] 10,000 talents and half the power over Asia, Parmenion said: "I would accept if I were Alexander." “And I, witness Zeus,” answered Alexander, “if I were Parmenion.”
Just as there are no two suns above the earth, so there are no two kings above Asia. (Alexander the Great to the Persian king Darius.)
Those close to him advised Alexander to attack his enemies at night. He replied: “I don’t steal the victory.”
Once, after reading a long letter from Antipater with accusations against Olympias, Alexander said: “Antipater does not know that one mother’s tear will make thousands of such letters forgotten.”
He [Alexander] sent the philosopher Xenocrates a gift of 50 talents, but he refused, saying that he did not need the money. “Does Xenocrates really not even have a friend?” asked Alexander. “And my friends barely even had all the wealth of King Darius.”
Alexander said that he considered Achilles lucky, because during his life he had a devoted friend, and after his death - a great herald of his glory.
I see that there will be a great competition over my grave.
Scopas the Thessalian
The Thessalian Skopas, when asked for some superfluous and useless thing from his home furnishings, replied: “But it is this superfluity that makes us happy, and not what everyone needs.”
Pelopidas (c. 410-364 BC) Theban commander
The Theban Pelopidas was going to war, and his wife asked him to take care of himself. “This must be told to others,” said Pelopidas, “and the commander must take care of his fellow citizens.”
Philip II of Macedon (c. 382-336 BC) king of Macedonia from 356 BC, father of Alexander the Great, conqueror of Greece.
About to make a stop at beautiful place, but suddenly learning that there was no grass for the pack donkey, he [Philip] said: “This is our life: we live in such a way that the donkeys will like it!”
When he [Philip] wanted to take one well-fortified place, and the spies reported that it was inaccessible and vast from everywhere, he asked: “Is it really so inaccessible that a donkey with a golden load could not pass through?”
When his friends were indignant that at the Olympic Games he was booed by the Peloponnesians, whom he had treated so well, he [Philip] said: “What would have happened if I had treated them badly.”
When someone told Leonid that he was leading too few people into battle, he replied: “Too many - because they are doomed to death.”
When his wife asked him [Leonid] during his departure if he would tell her something goodbye, he said, turning around: “I wish you a good husband and good children.”
When, during the battle of Thermopylae, someone exclaimed: “Because of the barbarian arrows the sun is not visible,” Leonidas said: “Okay, we will fight in the shadows.”
One of the Spartans said: “The barbarians are already near.” Leonidas replied: “So we are close to them.”
Leonidas ordered his soldiers to have breakfast, announcing that they would have lunch in Hades.
Euclid (turn of the 4th-3rd centuries BC) mathematician, worked in Alexandria
What is accepted without evidence can be rejected without evidence.
There is no royal path in geometry. (Euclid’s response to the Egyptian king Ptolemy I, who asked to show him an easier way to study geometry).
Sophocles (c. 496-406 BC) Athenian playwright and tragedian
There was once a first time for everything in the world.
Don't praise him while he's alive!
Sophocles said that he composes people as they should be, and Euripides - as they are.
Sophocles, already under the burden of years, when asked if he indulged in love pleasures, (...) replied: “May the gods protect me from this! I joyfully fled from them, as from a rude and furious master.”
How terrible the mind can be if it does not serve a person.
Happiness does not help the careless.
Happiness does not favor the faint-hearted.
Great things don't happen overnight.
Those who have made a mistake without intent are not greatly angry.
Intelligence is undoubtedly the first condition for happiness.
It's better to be simple and honest than smart and deceitful.
Talking a lot and saying a lot are not the same thing.
Wisdom is the native mother of happiness.
Whoever God wants to destroy, he first deprives him of his reason.
Socrates (470-399 BC) philosopher, student of Anaxagoras, from Athens
No one can learn anything from a person they don't like.
In his prayers, he [Socrates] simply asked the gods to grant good, for the gods know better than anyone what good consists of.
Socrates advised avoiding foods that tempt a person to eat without feeling hungry. (...) He joked that Kirk [Circe] must have turned people into pigs, treating them to such dishes in abundance; and Odysseus (...) refrained from using them excessively and therefore did not turn into a pig.
Those who want to have a lot of trouble themselves and cause it to others, I (...) would put in the category of those fit for power.
If, living among people, you do not want to either rule or be ruled and do not voluntarily serve the rulers, then I think you see how strong (...) and entire communities are able to keep everyone separately in slavery.
It is not very easy to find a job for which you will not hear reproaches; It is very difficult to do anything without making mistakes.
Envious people (...) are only those who grieve over the happiness of their friends.
It is difficult (...) to find a doctor who would know better than the person himself (...) what is good for his health.
Before the trial of Socrates began, one of his friends asked: “Shouldn’t (...) think about what to say in your own defense?” - Socrates (...) answered: “Wasn’t (...) my whole life a preparation for defense?”
An ardently devoted to Socrates, but a simple-minded man, a certain Apollodorus, said: “But it is especially hard for me, Socrates, that you are sentenced to death unjustly.” Socrates, they say, stroked him on the head and said: “Would you (...) be more pleased to see that I was sentenced fairly?”
I went to the poets (...) and asked them what exactly they wanted to say, so that, by the way, I could learn something from them. It’s a shame (...) to tell you the truth, but it’s still worth telling. (...) Almost everyone present there could better explain what was done by these poets than they themselves. (...) They can do what they do not with wisdom, but with some innate ability and in a frenzy, like fortune-tellers and soothsayers; After all, these people also say a lot of good things, but they don’t know at all what they are talking about.
The wisest is the one who, like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is truly worthless.
There is no person who could survive if he openly opposed (...) the majority and wanted to prevent all the many injustices and lawlessness that are committed in the state. No, whoever really stands up for justice, even if he is destined to survive for a short time, must remain a private person and should not enter the public field.
Socrates used to say that he himself eats to live, but other people live to eat.
If someone were to take that night on which he slept so much that he did not even see a dream, compare this night with the rest of the nights and days of his life and, after thinking, say how many days and nights he lived better in his life and more pleasant than that night, then, I think, not only every simple person, but himself Great king I would find it worthless to count such days compared to others. So if death is like this, I (...) will call it gain, because in this way it turns out that the whole life is no better than one night.
Think less about Socrates, but mainly about the truth.
Last words: We owe Asclepius a rooster. So give it away, don’t forget. (The rooster was brought to Asclepius, the god of healing, by those recovering. Socrates believed that death for his soul was recovery and liberation from earthly adversities).
They say that Euripides gave him [Socrates] the work of Heraclitus and asked his opinion; he replied: “What I understood was great; what I didn’t understand, probably, too.”
Often he [Socrates] used to say, looking at the multitude of market goods: “How many things there are that you can live without!”
It’s surprising: every person can easily say how many sheep he has, but not everyone can say how many friends he has - they are so not valuable.
Beauty is a short-lived kingdom.
Socrates said (...) that he knows only that he knows nothing.
To the man who asked whether he should marry or not, he [Socrates] replied: “Do what you want, you will repent anyway.”
When he [Antisthenes] began to show off a hole in his cloak, Socrates, noticing this, said: “Through this cloak I see your vanity!”
Socrates once had to admonish (...) Alcibiades, who was timid and afraid to give a speech to the people. To encourage and calm him, Socrates asked: “Don’t you despise that shoemaker over there?” - and the philosopher called his name. Alcibiades answered in the affirmative; then Socrates continued: “Well, what about this peddler or the craftsman who sews scarves?” The young man confirmed again. “So,” continued Socrates, “the Athenian people consist of similar people. If you despise each individual, you should despise everyone collectively.”
When he [Socrates] was told: “The Athenians condemned you to death,” he replied: “But nature condemned them themselves.”
Seeing that the government of thirty tyrants was killing the most glorious citizens and persecuting those who possessed significant wealth, Socrates (...) said: "(...) Never was there such a brave and daring tragic poet, which would bring a choir doomed to death onto the stage!
When Socrates fell ill in old age and someone asked him how things were going, the philosopher replied: “Wonderful in every sense: if I manage to get better, I will make more envious people, and if I die, more friends.”
It is not difficult to praise Athenians among Athenians.
Socrates, when he was already sentenced to death and imprisoned, hearing a musician singing the verses of Stesichorus to the accompaniment of the lyre, asked him to teach him while there was still time; When asked by the singer what benefit it would give him when he had to die the day after tomorrow, Socrates replied: “To die, knowing a little more.”
The sun has one drawback: it cannot see itself.
All I know is that I don't know anything.
The less a person needs, the closer he is to the gods.
Whoever wants to move the world, let him move himself!
A good start is not a small thing, even if it starts with a small thing.
Education is a difficult matter, and improving its conditions is one of the sacred duties of every person, for there is nothing more important than the education of oneself and one's neighbors.
There is only one good - knowledge and only one evil - ignorance.
The highest wisdom is to distinguish between good and evil.
Wisdom is the queen of heaven and earth.
People find it easier to hold a hot coal on their tongue than a secret.
A good advisor is better than any wealth.
Good people should be trusted by word and reason, and not by oath.
Speak so I can see you.
It is better to die courageously than to live in shame.
Without friendship, no communication between people has value.
It would be good for a person to examine himself, how much he is worth to his friends, and to try to be as valuable as possible.
The love of a woman is more to be feared than the hatred of a man. This is poison, all the more dangerous because it is pleasant.
The flame is kindled by the wind, and attraction by proximity.
Beauty is a queen who reigns for a very short time.
Marriage, to tell the truth, is evil, but a necessary evil.
Get married no matter what. If you get a good wife, you will be an exception, and if you get a bad wife, you will become a philosopher.
In your clothes, try to be elegant, but not dandy; the sign of grace is decency, and the sign of panache is excess.
When the word does not hit, then the stick will not help.
What kind of person, being a slave to pleasure, will not pervert his body and soul?
He is richest who is satisfied with little, for such contentment testifies to the wealth of nature.
I want to use whole body gymnastics to make him more balanced.
The best seasoning for food is hunger.
You cannot heal the body without healing the soul.
If a person takes care of his own health, then it is difficult to find a doctor who would know better what is beneficial for his health than himself.
Pythagoras (VI century BC) philosopher, mathematician, religious and political figure, founder of the Pythagorean school, born on the island of Samos
All things are like numbers.
Everything that is known has a number, for it is impossible to understand anything or know anything without it.
Harmony is (..) the agreement of discord.
A sage, according to him [Pythagoras], can only be a god, not a man. (...) A philosopher who is “wise of wisdom” is simply someone who is attracted to wisdom.
Life(...) is like games: some come to compete, others come to trade, and the happiest come to watch; so in life, others, like slaves, are born greedy for fame and profit, while philosophers are born greedy for the truth alone.
Give in to lust in winter, do not give in in summer; It is less dangerous in spring and autumn, but it is dangerous at any time and is not good for health.
Friends have everything in common, and friendship is equality.
Friendship is equality.
The soul makes a circle of inevitability, alternately putting on first one life and then another.
When leaving for a foreign land, don’t look back.
Pythagoras forbids praying for himself, because we do not know what our benefit is.
He [Pythagoras] divided human life like this: “Twenty years - a boy, another twenty - a youth, another twenty - a youth, another twenty - an old man.”
“Don’t stir up fire with a knife,” that is, don’t hurt an angry and arrogant person with harsh words.
“When leaving, don’t look back,” that is, before death, don’t cling to life.
“Be with those who shoulder the burden, do not be with those who dump the burden,” - with this he ordered to encourage people not to idleness, but to virtue and to work.
Without the mind, a person does not know anything healthy, nothing true, and is not even able to grasp anything with any senses - only the mind itself sees everything and hears everything, but everything else is blind and deaf.
Where (...) there is a necessity, there is an opportunity.
Let us treat everyone prudently and fairly, not only the prudent and just, and we will not be honest with the honest or evil with the evil.
If something shameful is done with pleasure, then the pleasure passes, but the shame remains; if something worthy is accomplished with effort, then the effort passes, but the worthy remains.
More often they lose their measure in drinking than in eating.
Pythagoras prohibits leaving his guard post and leaving life without the order of the commander, that is, the deity. (About suicide).
Among the talking creatures there are gods, there are people, and then there is Pythagoras.
Blessed be the divine number that gave birth to gods and men.
Life is like games: some come to compete, others come to trade, and the happiest come to watch.
The cup of life would be sweet to the point of cloying if bitter tears did not fall into it.
If you can be an eagle, do not strive to be the first among the jackdaws.
Two things make a person godlike: living for the good of society and being truthful.
Be a friend of truth to the point of martyrdom, but do not be its defender to the point of intolerance.
Whatever they think of you, do what you think is fair. Be equally indifferent to both blame and praise.
A statue is painted by his appearance, but a man by his deeds.
When you wake up in the morning, ask yourself: “What should I do?” In the evening before falling asleep: "What have I done?"
Do great things without promising great things.
Don’t close your eyes when you want to sleep without having sorted out all your actions over the past day.
Try not to cover up your mistakes with words, but to heal them with accusations.
The whole life should be entrusted to reason alone, as a wise guardian.
Explore everything, give your mind first place.
It is more useful to throw a stone at random than an empty word.
No matter how short the words “yes” and “no” are, they still require the most serious consideration.
It is one and the same thing to take away the bitterness from wormwood and to cut off the insolence from a word.
Joke, like salt, should be consumed in moderation.
To learn the customs of any people, try to first learn their language.
Be silent or say something better than silence.
Flattery is like a weapon depicted in a painting: it brings pleasure, but no benefit.
Choose a friend for yourself; You cannot be happy alone: happiness is a matter of two.
Live with people so that your friends do not become enemies, and your enemies become friends.
A man dies drunk from wine; he rages in the intoxication of love.
Prudent wife! If you want your husband to spend his free time next to you, then try so that he does not find so much pleasantness, pleasure, modesty and tenderness in any other place.
Save the tears of your children so that they can shed them at your grave.
Wash the insult received not in blood, but in Lethe, the river of oblivion.
First of all, don't lose your self-respect!
Do not do anything shameful, either in front of others or in secret. Your first law should be self-respect.
During anger one should neither speak nor act.
Just as old wine is unsuitable for drinking a lot, so rude treatment is unsuitable for an interview.
Drunkenness is an exercise in madness.
Those who are foolish when drinking wine reach the point of intoxication, and in the event of misfortunes - to complete loss of mind.
Ask a drunkard how he could stop drinking? I will answer for him: let him remember more often the things he does while drunk.
In boasters, as in gilded weapons, the inside does not match the outside.
Only an ignoble person is capable of praising to his face and slander behind his back.
No one should exceed the limit in food or drink.
Audio: The most famous aphorisms of great people (collection: part No. 19)
Do you want to be admired in the company or considered very smart person? Then remember these sayings of ancient philosophers, shine with quotes from Aristotle, Aesop or Lao Tzu and you will be the center of attention!
Quoting wise men will not only allow you to become the life of the party. You will also be able to demonstrate your erudition to others, since in addition to statements you will find here information about interesting facts about ancient philosophers, a short biography.
Due to the fact that philosophers over the centuries have become experts in many general, global things, their experience helps people avoid mistakes and change their worldview. Therefore, the sayings of the sages presented here who lived from the 12th to the 1st centuries BC will be useful for many other reasons.
At any age of a person, thinkers bring something into his life, proving that philosophy is hidden in each of us. Discover this space with the help of the statements of ancient famous philosophers about various aspects of life and comprehend the wisdom of existence!
Just relax and have fun. After all, we have collected for you the most interesting and instructive Sayings of ancient philosophers.
from XII before VII BC* God finds the culprit.
* There is time for everything: your time for conversation, your time for peace.
from VIII before VII centuries BC* A fool is one who does not know that a little is more than a lot.
* It’s not good to change friends every now and then.
VII century BC* Do not approve of recklessness, love prudence.
* Take with conviction, not force.
Periander of Corinth* Be ready to die for the fatherland.
* Be moderate in happiness, reasonable in misfortune.
Solon of Athens* In great things, you can’t please everyone.
* Laws are like cobwebs: they entangle the weak, but the strong tear them down.
Thales of Miletus* What is the easiest way to endure adversity? - If you see your enemies in an even worse situation.
*Who is happy? - He who is healthy in body is gifted with peace of mind and develops his talents.
Chilo the Spartan* He who is strong, be kind, so that you are respected and not feared.
* Better a loss than a bad profit: from one grief for once, from another - forever.
Aesop* Gratitude is a sign of the nobility of the soul.
* In the hardships of life, you need to be patient and have a softening habit.
All quotes: 7th century BC >> VI century BC* Vine brings three grapes: a bunch of pleasure, a bunch of intoxication and a bunch of disgust.
* An angry person is like coal: if it doesn’t burn, it blackens you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus* War is the father of all things, the father of everything.
* Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears.
Cleobulus of Lindus* Be able to endure the vicissitudes of fate with nobility.
* Do not caress or quarrel with your wife in front of strangers: the first is a sign of stupidity, the second is rage.
Confucius* Be strict with yourself and gentle with others. This way you will protect yourself from human hostility.
* In ancient times, people studied in order to improve themselves. Nowadays they study in order to surprise others.
Lao Tzu* Even the best weapon does not bode well.
Pythagoras* Take care of the tears of your children so that they can shed them at your grave.
* The conversation should be conducted in such a way that the interlocutors turn from enemies to friends, and not from friends to enemies.
Theognis of Megara* Even Leo doesn’t always have to treat himself to meat. No matter how strong he is, need can befall him.
* I hate a restless wife and an insatiable husband.
Epimenides* If someone is lying and he himself claims to be lying, is he lying in this case or is he telling the truth?
* Soothsayers only know what has happened.
Aeschylus* They whip the idle talker with a double whip.
* If strength unites with justice, then what could be stronger than this union?
All quotes: 6th century BC >> V century BC* Justice is the unchanging and constant will to give everyone his right.
* Freedom is the natural ability of everyone to do what he pleases, unless prohibited by force or law.
Visakhadatta* Betrayal now promises many benefits; devotion has become a feat for a person.
* Unbecoming honor is worse than insult.
All quotes: 5th century BC >> IV century BC* Education is the best supply for old age.
* All sciences are more necessary than philosophy, but there is none better than it.
Bion Borysphenit* Great misfortune is the inability to endure misfortunes.
* An envious person is sad either because he himself has suffered misfortune, or because someone else has been lucky.
Menander* God does everything while remaining silent.
* The gods' favorites die young.
Xunzi* When asked an indecent question, you should not answer it.
* Those who do not devote themselves entirely to the task will not have brilliant success.
Chuang Tzu* Truth exists only insofar as lies exist.
* Do not act in the service of glory, do not become a treasury of plans, do not give power to affairs over yourself, do not submit to knowledge.
Epicurus* People need even the worst laws, because without them, people would devour each other.
* Only a sage is able to correctly judge poetry and music, although he himself will not write poetry.
All quotes: IV century BC >> III century BC* When speaking to a wise person, use few words.
* Time exhausts the power of all tyranny.
Caecilius Statius* If you trust someone, trust them in everything.
* Live as best you can, since you can’t live as you want.
All quotes: III century BC >> II century BC* If a person had enough to satisfy, he would be quite well off.
* If it is work, then work is such that there is benefit and honor.
Terence Publius* A prudent person should try everything before resorting to weapons.
* To be wise means to see not only what is under your feet, but also to foresee the future.
Cicero Marcus Tullius* Paper will endure anything.
* Insult contains some kind of sting, which prudent and good people endure with the greatest difficulty.
Plautus Titus Maccius* The more important you consider it, the more likely you will accomplish a task.
* Peace of mind- the best relief in trouble.
All quotes: 6th century BC >> I century BC* Endure and stay strong for future times.
* May an avenger rise from our bones someday!
Horace Flaccus Quintus* Money either dominates its owner or serves him.
* Dare to be wise!
Titus Livy* In difficult circumstances, when there is almost nothing to hope for, the most desperate decisions are the most correct.
* Wars are for the young.
