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Democritus
79 quotes
“Those who have a well-ordered character lead also a well-ordered life.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Good means not [merely] not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fame and wealth without wisdom are unsafe possessions.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Making money is not without its value, but nothing is baser than to make it by wrong-doing.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can tell the man who rings true from the man who rings false, not by his deeds alone, but also by his desires.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“False men and shams talk big and do nothing.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My enemy is not the man who wrongs me, but the man who means to wrong me.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The enmity of one's kindred is far more bitter than the enmity of strangers.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The friendship of one wise man is better than the friendship of a host of fools.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No one deserves to live who has not at least one good-man-and-true for a friend.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Seek after the good, and with much toil shall ye find it; the evil turns up of itself without your seeking it.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a man petticoat government is the limit of insolence.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(Democritus said he would rather discover a single demonstration than win the throne of Persia.)”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men have made an idol of luck as an excuse for their own thoughtlessness. Luck seldom measures swords with wisdom. Most things in life quick wit and sharp vision can set right.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the weightiest matters we must go to school to the animals, and learn spinning and weaving from the spider, building from the swallow, singing from the birds,—from the swan and the nightingale, imitating their art.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An evil and foolish and intemperate and irreligious life should not be called a bad life, but rather, dying long drawn out.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fortune is lavish with her favors, but not to be depended on. Nature on the other hand is self-sufficing, and therefore with her feebler but trustworthy [resources] she wins the greater [meed] of hope.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The right-minded man, ever inclined to righteous and lawful deeds, is joyous day and night, and strong, and free from care. But if a man take no heed of the right, and leave undone the things he ought to do, then will the recollection of no one of all his transgressions bring him any joy, but only anxiety and self-reproaching.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now as of old the gods give men all good things, excepting only those that are baneful and injurious and useless. These, now as of old, are not gifts of the gods: men stumble into them themselves because of their own blindness and folly.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of all things the worst to teach the young is dalliance, for it is this that is the parent of those pleasures from which wickedness springs.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A sensible man takes pleasure in what he has instead of pining for what he has not.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A life without a holiday is like a long journey without an inn to rest at.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The pleasures that give most joy are the ones that most rarely come.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men in their prayers beg the gods for health, not knowing that this is a thing they have in their own power. Through their incontinence undermining it, they themselves become, because of their passions, the betrayers of their own health.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All who delight in the pleasures of the belly, exceeding all measure in eating and drinking and love, find that the pleasures are brief and last but a short while—only so long as they are eating and drinking—but the pains that come after are many and endure. The longing for the same things keeps ever returning, and whenever the objects of one's desire are realized forthwith the pleasure vanishes, and one has no further use for them. The pleasure is brief, and once more the need for the same things returns.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We ought to regard the interests of the state as of far greater moment than all else, in order that they may be administered well; and we ought not to engage in eager rivalry in despite of equity, nor arrogate to ourselves any power contrary to the common welfare. For a state well administered is our greatest safeguard. In this all is summed up: When the state is in a healthy condition all things prosper; when it is corrupt, all things go to ruin.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men achieve tranquillity through moderation in pleasure and through the symmetry of life. Want and superfluity are apt to upset them and to cause great perturbations in the soul. The souls that are rent by violent conflicts are neither stable nor tranquil. One should therefore set his mind upon the things that are within his power, and be content with his opportunities, nor let his memory dwell very long on the envied and admired of men, nor idly sit and dream of them. Rather, he should contemplate the lives of those who suffer hardship, and vividly bring to mind their sufferings, so that your own present situation may appear to you important and to be envied, and so that it may no longer be your portion to suffer torture in your soul by your longing for more. For he who admires those who have, and whom other men deem blest of fortune, and who spends all his time idly dreaming of them, will be forced to be always contriving some new device because of his [insatiable] desire, until he ends by doing some desperate deed forbidden by the laws. And therefore one ought not to desire other men's blessings, and one ought not to envy those who have more, but rather, comparing his life with that of those who fare worse, and laying to heart their sufferings, deem himself blest of fortune in that he lives and fares so much better than they. Holding fast to this saying you will pass your life in greater tranquillity and will avert not a few of the plagues of life—envy and jealousy and bitterness of mind.”
Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source