Pliny the Elder Quotes - Page 5

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• Made up of the glories of the most precious gems, to describe them is a matter of inexpressible difficulty. For there is amongst them the gentler fire of the ruby, there is the rich purple of the amethyst, there is the sea-green of the emerald, and all shining together in an indescribable union. Others, by an excessive heightening of their hues equal all the colours of the painter, others the flame of burning brimstone, or of a fire quickened by oil.

  Pliny the Elder

  Purple, Oil, Fire

  17 Copy quote

• In the literary as well as military world, most powerful abilities will often be found concealed under a rustic garb.

  Pliny the Elder

  Powerful, Military, Often Is

  4 Copy quote

• The brain is the highest of the organs in position, and it is protected by the vault of the head; it has no flesh or blood or refuse. It is the citadel of sense-perception.

  Pliny the Elder

  Blood, Perception, Brain

  Natural History XI.49

  6 Copy quote

• No mortal man, moreover is wise at all moments.

  Pliny the Elder

  Wise, Men, Demise

  4 Copy quote

• Example is the softest and least invidious way of commanding.

  Pliny the Elder

  Example, Way

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• And that all seas are made calme and still with oile; and therefore the Divers under the water doe spirt and sprinkle it abroad with their mouthes because it dulceth and allaieth the unpleasant nature thereof, and carrieth a light with it.

  Pliny the Elder

  Light, Sea, Water

  4 Copy quote

• Now, that the sovereign power and deity, whatsoever it is, should have regard of mankind, is a toy and vanity worthy to be laughed at.

  Pliny the Elder

  Vanity, Should Have, Sovereign

  Pliny (the Elder.) (1964). “The History of the World: Commonly Called The Natural History of C. Plinius Secundus, Or Pliny”

  4 Copy quote

• A god cannot procure death for himself, even if he wished it, which, so numerous are the evils of life, has been granted to man as our chief good.

  Pliny the Elder

  Men, Evil, Granted

  Pliny the Elder (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder (Illustrated)”, p.7, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

• ....shellfish are the prime cause of the decline of morals and the adaptation of an extravagant lifestyle.

  Pliny the Elder

  Causes, Moral, Adaptation

  11 Copy quote

• Let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration.

  Pliny the Elder

  Common, Consideration, Share

  Pliny the Elder (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder (Illustrated)”, Delphi Classics

  7 Copy quote

• The world, and whatever that be which we call the heavens, by the vault of which all things are enclosed, we must conceive to be a deity, to be eternal, without bounds, neither created nor subject at any time to destruction. To inquire what is beyond it is no concern of man; nor can the human mind form any conjecture concerning it.

  Pliny the Elder

  Men, Heaven, Mind

  Pliny the Elder (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder (Illustrated)”, p.1, Delphi Classics

  5 Copy quote

• This only is certain, that there is nothing certain.

  Pliny the Elder

  Certain

  6 Copy quote

• I would have a man generous to his country, his neighbors, his kindred, his friends, and most of all his poor friends. Not like some who are most lavish with those who are able to give most of them.

  Pliny the Elder

  Country, Men, Generosity

  7 Copy quote

• I think it is the most beautiful and humane thing in the world, so to mingle gravity with pleasure that the one may not sink into melancholy, nor the other rise up into wantonness.

  Pliny the Elder

  Beautiful, Thinking, World

  9 Copy quote

• Why do we believe that in all matters the odd numbers are more powerful?

  Pliny the Elder

  Powerful, Believe, Math

  Pliny (the Elder.) (1989). “Pliny: Natural History”

  52 Copy quote

• The feasant hens of Colchis, which have two ears as it were consisting of feathers, which they will set up and lay down as they list.

  Pliny the Elder

  Two, Ears, Hens

  64 Copy quote

• All men possess in their bodies a poison which acts upon serpents; and the human saliva, it is said, makes them take to flight, as though they had been touched with boiling water. The same substance, it is said, destroys them the moment it enters their throat.

  Pliny the Elder

  Men, Water, Poison

  Pliny the Elder (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder (Illustrated)”, p.396, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

• The human features and countenance, although composed of but some ten parts or little more, are so fashioned that among so many thousands of men there are no two in existence who cannot be distinguished from one another.

  Pliny the Elder

  Men, Two, Littles

  Pliny the Elder (2015). “Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder (Illustrated)”, p.394, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

• Human nature craves novelty.

  Pliny the Elder

  Novelty, Human Nature, Humans

  4 Copy quote

• Nothing which we can imagine about Nature is incredible.

  Pliny the Elder

  Incredibles, Imagine

  4 Copy quote

• It [the earth] alone remains immoveable, whilst all things revolve round it.

  Pliny the Elder

  Science, Earth, Remains

  4 Copy quote

• Man alone at the very moment of his birth, cast naked upon the naked earth, does she abandon to cries and lamentations.

  Pliny the Elder

  Men, Doe, Naked

  Pliny (the Elder.) (1957). “Natural History: An Account by a Roman of what Romans Knew and Did and Valued”

  4 Copy quote

• As for the garden of mint, the very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes our spirits, as the taste stirs up our appetite for meat.

  Pliny the Elder

  Food, Garden, Smell

  23 Copy quote

• There is in them a softer fire than the ruby, there is the brilliant purple of the amethyst, and the sea green of the emerald - all shining together in incredible union. Some by their splendor rival the colors of the painters, others the flame of burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil.

  Pliny the Elder

  Sea, Purple, Oil

  35 Copy quote

• Honey comes out of the air At early dawn the leaves of trees are found bedewed with honey. Whether this is the perspiration of the sky or a sort of saliva of the stars, or the moisture of the air purging itself, nevertheless it brings with it the great pleasure of its heavenly nature. It is always of the best quality when it is stored in the best flowers.

  Pliny the Elder

  Stars, Flower, Food

  5 Copy quote

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