John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 927
| Plutarch. (A.D. 46?–A.D. c. 120) (continued) |
| 8920 |
| We are more sensible of what is done against custom than against Nature. |
| Of Eating of Flesh. Tract 1. |
| 8921 |
| When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of oratory, he answered, “Action;” and which was the second, he replied, “Action;” and which was the third, he still answered, “Action.” |
| Lives of the Ten Orators. |
| 8922 |
| Xenophon says that there is no sound more pleasing than one’s own praises. |
| Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs. |
| 8923 |
| Lampis, the sea commander, being asked how he got his wealth, answered, “My greatest estate I gained easily enough, but the smaller slowly and with much labour.” |
| Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs. |
| 8924 |
| The general himself ought to be such a one as can at the same time see both forward and backward. |
| Whether an Aged Man ought to meddle in State Affairs. |
| 8925 |
| Statesmen are not only liable to give an account of what they say or do in public, but there is a busy inquiry made into their very meals, beds, marriages, and every other sportive or serious action. |
| Political Precepts. |
| 8926 |
| Leo Byzantius said, “What would you do, if you saw my wife, who scarce reaches up to my knees?… Yet,” went he on, “as little as we are, when we fall out with each other, the city of Byzantium is not big enough to hold us.” |
| Political Precepts. |
| 8927 |
| Cato said, “I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is.” |
| Political Precepts. |
| 8928 |
| It was the saying of Bion, that though the boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest. 1 |
| Which are the most crafty, Water or Land Animals? 7. |
| Note 1. Though this may be play to you, ’T is death to us. Roger L’Estrange: Fables from Several Authors. Fable 398. [back] |