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Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

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Said between 300 and 201 BC

• “If the king loves music, there is little wrong in the land.”

  Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Discourses, as quoted in "I Want to Know!" by Ivan Gogol Esipoff, The Etude, Vol. LXIII, No. 9 (September 1945), p. 496

• “«برترین نزاکت تهی از تشریفات است/برترین عمل تهی از نگرانی است/برترین خِرد تهی از طرح است/برترین عشق تهی از نمایش است/و برترین صداقت خالی از ضمانت.»”

  چوانگ تسی (369–288 BC) said by 288 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Ὀψὲ δὲ αὐτῷ γεωμετροῦντι λέγει τις, "εἶτα νῦν καιρός;" "εἶτα μηδὲ νῦν.”

  Lacydes of Cyrene (301–205 BC) said by 205 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Translated by C. D. Yonge (1853)

• “We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”

  Zeno of Citium (334–263 BC) said by 263 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A truly enlightened ruler uses the law to select men for him; he does not choose them himself. He uses the law to weigh their merits; he does not attempt to judge them for himself.”

  Han Fei (280–233 BC) said by 233 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: On Having Standards", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003)

• “It follows at once from the last proposition that the centre of gravity of any triangle is at the intersection of the lines drawn from any two angles to the middle points of the opposite sides respectively.”

  Archimedes (287–212 BC) said by 212 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “زمانی که ما به روزمرگی می‌افتیم، در حال مردن هستیم. هیچ چیز سودمندتر از داشتن آرزو نیست.”

  ثئوفراستوس (371–287 BC) said by 287 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “ὅπερ ἔδει ποιῆσαι.”

  Euclid (334–285 BC) said by 285 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Also quoted by: Ευκλείδης (el)

• “«مرد بزرگ، کسی است که کودکی خود را گم نکند.»”

  منسیوس (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε νῦν, Ἐρατώ, παρά θ᾽ ἵστασο, καί μοι ἔνισπε, ἔνθεν ὅπως ἐς Ἰωλκὸν ἀνήγαγε κῶας Ἰήσων Μηδείης ὑπ᾽ ἔρωτι.”

  Apollonius of Rhodes (295–215 BC) said by 215 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Sobriety, as opposed to inebriety and gluttony, is of admirable use in teaching men that nature is satisfied with a little, and enabling them to content themselves with simple and frugal fare.”

  Epicurus (342–270 BC) said by 270 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Τὰν ἐκφυγοῦσαν ματρὸς ἐκ κόλπων, ἔτι ἀφρῷ τε μορμύρουσαν, εὐλεχῆ Κύπριν ἰδὼν Ἀπελλῆς, κάλλος ἱμερώτατον, οὐ γραπτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμψυχον ἐξεμάξατο. εὖ μὲν γὰρ ἄκραις χερσὶν ἐκθλίβει κόμαν, εὖ δ᾽ ὀμμάτων γαληνὸς ἐκλάμπει πόθος, καὶ μαζός, ἀκμῆς ἄγγελος, κυδωνιᾷ: αὐτὰ δ᾽ Ἀθάνα καὶ Διὸς συνευνέτις φάσουσιν ‘ὦ Ζεῦ, λειπόμεσθα τῇ κρίσει.’”

  Leonidas of Tarentum (320–260 BC) said by 260 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Anthologia Palatina, xvi, 182, "On the of ", as translated by Charles Whibley, Selections from the Greek Anthology (1895), p. 119.

• “If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is reckless, they will not only be reckless likewise, but also eat into his works. Besides, a reckless king will easily fall into the hands of his enemies. Hence the king shall ever be wakeful.”

  Chanakya (375–283 BC) said by 283 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “«کسی که از اندک خویش خشنود نباشد هیج چیز خوشنودش نخواهد کرد.»”

  اپیکور (342–270 BC) said by 270 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “All Indians are free, and not one of them is a slave.”

  Megasthenes (351–291 BC) said by 291 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “sapientem nulla re egere et tamen multis illi rebus opus esse. contra stulto nulla re opus est, nulla enim re uti scit, sed omnibus eget.”

  Chrysippus (281–208 BC) said by 208 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: SVF III 674; Seneca, Moral Epistles, 9.14 (tr. R. M. Gummere, 1918)

• “ὁμοιότατος ἄνθρωπος οἴνῳ τὴν φύσιν τρόπον τιν᾿ ἐστί. τὸν γὰρ οἶνον τὸν νέον πολλή ᾿στ᾿ ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν ἄνδρ᾿ ἀποζέσαι πρώτιστον ἀφυβρίσαι τ᾿, ἀπανθήσαντα δὲ σκληρὸν γενέσθαι, παρακμάσαντα δ᾿ ὧν λέγω τούτων ἁπάντων, ἀπαρυθέντα τὴν ἄνω ταύτην ἄνοιαν ἐπιπολάζουσαν, τότε πότιμον γενέσθαι καὶ καταστῆναι πάλιν ἡδύν θ᾿ ἅπασι τοὐπίλοιπον διατελεῖν.”

  Alexis (372–270 BC) said by 270 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Frg. 46 K.-A. (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1873)

• “Whatever good deeds have been done by me, those the people accept and those they follow. Therefore they have progressed and will continue to progress by being respectful to mother and father, respectful to elders, by courtesy to the aged and proper behavior towards Brahmans and ascetics, towards the poor and distressed, and even towards servants and employees.”

  Ashoka (304–232 BC) said by 232 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “ἦ πολυιδρείη χαλεπὸν κακόν, ὅστις ἀκαρτεῖ γλώσσης· ὡς ἐτεὸν παῖς ὅδε μαῦλιν ἔχει.”

  Callimachus (306–240 BC) said by 240 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Fr. 75.8–9; Aetia, book III (tr. C. A. Trypanis, 1958)

• “μειράκιον, οὔ μοι κατανοεῖν δοκεῖς, ὅτι ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἕκαστα κακίας σήπεται, καὶ πᾶν τὸ λυμαινόμενόν ἐστιν ἔνδοθεν. οἷον ὁ μὲν ἰὸς τὸν σίδηρον, ἂν σκοπῇς, τὸ δ᾿ ἱμάτιον οἱ σῆτες, ὁ δὲ θρὶψ τὸ ξύλον. ὃ δὲ τὸ κάκιστον τῶν κακῶν πάντων, φθόνος φθισικὸν πεποίηκε καὶ ποήσει καὶ ποεῖ.”

  Menander (341–291 BC) said by 291 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Frg. 761 K.-A. (tr. G. Murray, 1938)

• “But we, the great, the valiant, and the wise, When once the seal of death has closed our eyes, Lost in the hollow tomb obscure and deep, Slumber, to wake no more, one long unbroken sleep!”

  Moschus (201–201 BC) said by 201 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Proposition 9. The diameter of the sun is greater than 18 times, but less than 20 times, the diameter of the moon.”

  Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BC) said by 230 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “世溷浊而嫉贤兮，好蔽美而称恶。”

  Qu Yuan (343–278 BC) said by 278 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!”

  Zhuangzi (369–288 BC) said by 288 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Ch. 2 (tr. Burton Watson, 1968)