Ancient Greek Philosophers Quotes

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  What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

  Pericles

  Life, Education, Appreciation

  "Flicker to Flame: Living with Purpose, Meaning, and Happiness". Book by Jeffrey Thompson Parker, October 2006.

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  Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

  Epicurus

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

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  As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other.

  Pythagoras

  Health, Animal, Men

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• Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

  Epictetus

  Positive, Uplifting, Money

  Epictetus (2016). “The Philosophy of Epictetus: Golden Sayings and Fragments”, p.87, Courier Dover Publications

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• We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

  Will Durant

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  528 Copy quote

• ...for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty.

  Plato

  Inspirational, Education, Philosophy

  Plato, Henry Desmond Pritchard Lee (1987). “The Republic”

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• At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.

  Aristotle

  Philosophy, Animal, Men

  51 Copy quote

• Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

  Socrates

  Life, Time, Simple

  121 Copy quote
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  The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

  Aristotle

  Graduation, Education, Sweet

  Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (1967). “Wit and Wisdom of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle: Being a Treasury of Thousands of Glorious, Inspiring and Imperishable Thoughts, Views and Observations of the Three Great Greek Philosophers, Classified Under about Four Hundred Subjects for Comparative Study”

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• It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

  Aristotle

  Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership

  Attributed to Aristotle in "Religion and the Pursuit of Truth" by Lowell Lindsay Bennion, p. 52, 1959.

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• Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

  Aristotle

  Inspirational, Wisdom, Business

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• The unexamined life is not worth living.

  Socrates

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  In Plato 'Apology' 38a

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• Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

  Epicurus

  Life, Death, Wisdom

  107 Copy quote

• Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.

  Pythagoras

  Wisdom, Communication, Pythagorean Theorem

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• The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

  Socrates

  Wise, Wisdom, Philosophy

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• The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.

  Aristotle

  Life, Death, Education

  Aristotle (2015). “The Aristotle Collection [50 Books]”, Catholic Way Publishing

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

  Plutarch

  Friendship, Change, Philosophy

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• Man is the measure of all things.

  Protagoras

  Philosophical, Men, Greek

  Quoted in Plato, Theaetetus

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• Wise men speak because they have something to say

  Plato

  Wise, Communication, Men

  23 Copy quote

• Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.

  Aristotle

  Inspirational, Friendship, Best Friend

  In Diogenes Laertius 'Lives of Eminent Philosophers' bk. 5, sect. 20

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• The gift of truth excels all other gifts.

  Gautama Buddha

  Buddhist, Truth, Philosophy

  22 Copy quote

• Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.

  Democritus

  Motivational, Philosophy, Science

  Diogenes Laertius, vol.9.

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• Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.

  Aristotle

  Love, Life, Positive

  Attributed to Aristotle in Diogenes Laertius "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers" translated by C. D. Yonge and Henry G. Bohn (p. 188), 1853.

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• Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.

  Epicurus

  Being Happy, Thankful, Hope

  Epicurus (1964). “Letters: Principles Doctrines, and Vatican Sayings Translated, with an Introd. and Notes, by Russel M. Geor. Indianapolis Merrill”

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• The ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus taught his students that what happens to them is not as important as what they believe happens to them. In this engaging and provocative book, Eldon Taylor provides his readers with specific ways in which their beliefs can lead to success or failure in their life undertakings. Each chapter provides nuggets of wisdom as well as road maps for guiding them toward greater self-understanding, balance, responsibility, and compassion.

  Stanley Krippner

  Book, Believe, Responsibility

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