Frases de Plutarco

“No cometer errores no está en las manos del hombre; pero de sus errores y equivocaciones el sabio y bueno aprende sabiduría para el futuro.”

“Aprende a escuchar, y te beneficiarás incluso de aquellos que hablan mal.”

“El cerebro no es un vaso por llenar, sino una lámpara por encender.”

“La lectura hace al hombre completo, la conversación lo hace ágil, la escritura lo hace exacto.”

“Para saber hablar es preciso saber escuchar.”

“Los cazadores atrapan las liebres con los perros, muchos hombres atrapan a los ignorantes con la adulación.”

“Es lo mejor, para todos los hombres y mujeres, no nacer; y lo segundo después de esto —la primera cosa que pueden conseguir los hombres— es, una vez nacidos, morir tan rápido como se pueda.”

“«La amistad es animal de compañía, no de rebaño».”

“«Si hacéis amistad con un cojo, aprended a cojear».”

“Hay amores tan bellos que justifican todas las locuras que hacen cometer.”

“A la cogujada no puede faltarle moño, ni tampoco al gobierno popular calumniador.”

“Quien tiene muchos vicios, tiene muchos amos.”

“El que abusa, para engañar, del juramento, reconoce que teme a su enemigo y que insulta a Dios.”

“El verdadero sabio sólo es riguroso consigo mismo; con los demás es amable.”

“La maldad aún con nobleza es digna de desprecio.”

“Los más sufrimos peor las malas palabras que las malas obras, porque es más difícil llevar el desprecio que la pérdida.”

“No puede ejecutar cosas grandes el que tiene su atención en las pequeñas.”

“Así hasta esto tuvo en su favor Argesilao: entrar a mandar sabiendo obedecer.”

“¡Cuán cierto es que la fortuna está muy fuera del alcance del juicio humano, y que respecto a ella nada sirven nuestros raciocinios!”

“El amor a la paz es verdaderamente divino.”

“Es cosa deseable tener una buena ascendencia, pero la gloria pertenece a nuestros antepasados.”

“Esclavos de los más ruines, a trueque de mandar a los mejores.”

“La maldad contiene los motivos de su propio tormento. Es un maravilloso artesano de una vida miserable.”

“Leones en casa, zorras en lo razo.”

“Lo entregó todo al fuego, que no hace distinción entre los culpados y los que no lo son.”

“Lo justo debe ser la medida real con que se regule la mayoría y excelencia del poder.”

“Lo que hagas sin esfuerzo y con presteza, durar no puede ni tener belleza.”

“Los caracteres ambiciosos, que no saben en la república guardar un justo medio, hacen más daño que provecho.”

“Los dichos injuriosos parece que nacen de sobrado rencor y sobrada malicia.”

“Para la plebe, el mayor honor de parte de los más poderosos es el que no la desprecien.”

“Por un pequeño bocado de carne privamos a un alma del Sol y de la luz y del gozo de la porción de vida y tiempo por la que había nacido al mundo.”

“Sería lo mismo motejar a Heracles de tímido, que acusar a Catón de avaro.”

“Un ejército de ciervos dirigido por un león es mucho más temible que un ejército de leones mandado por un ciervo.”

“Disfrutar de todos los placeres es insensato; evitarlos, insensible.”

“I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.”

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”

“Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”

“When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. (Technically a misquote, but I like the misquote better)”

“Adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.”

“To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days”

“Do not speak of your happiness to one less fortunate than yourself.”

“It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything.”

“It does not follow, that because a particular work of art succeeds in charming us, its creator also deserves our admiration.”

“Using the proverb frequently in their mouths who enter upon dangerous and bold attempts, "The die is cast," he took the river.”

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

“The poor go to war, to fight and die for the delights, riches, and superfluities of others.”

“To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.”

“The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.”

“Neither blame or praise yourself.”

“Books delight to the very marrow of one's bones. They speak to us, consult with us, and join with us in a living and intense intimacy.”

“Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.”

“It is a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.”

“Character is simply habit long continued.”

“But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.”

“Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.”

“Courage stands halfway between cowardice and rashness, one of which is a lack, the other an excess of courage.”

“Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.”

“It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration,—nay, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.”

“In words are seen the state of mind and character and disposition of the speaker.”

“When some were saying that if Cæsar should march against the city they could not see what forces there were to resist him, Pompey replied with a smile, bidding them be in no concern, "for whenever I stamp my foot in any part of Italy there will rise up forces enough in an instant, both horse and foot."”

“When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue."”

“A very bold political measure of Lycurgus is his redistribution of the land. For there was a dreadful inequality in this regard, the city was heavily burdened with indigent and helpless people, and wealth was wholly concentrated in the hands of a few. Determined, therefore, to banish insolence and envy and crime and luxury, and those yet more deep-seated and afflictive diseases of the state, poverty and wealth, he persuaded his fellow-citizens to make one parcel of all their territory and divide it up anew, and to live with one another on a basis of entire uniformity and equality in the means of subsistence, seeking preëminence through virtue alone, assured that there was no other difference or inequality between man and man than that which was established by blame for base actions and praise for good ones.”

“Themistocles said that he certainly could not make use of any stringed instrument; could only, were a small and obscure city put into his hands, make it great and glorious.”