Pliny Quotes

Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man.

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.

It has become quite a common proverb that in wine there is truth (In Vino Veritas).

The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.

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

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.

In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain.

From the end spring new beginnings.

Nature is to be found in her entirety nowhere more than in her smallest creatures.

In wine, there's truth.

Better do nothing than do ill.

There is, to be sure, no evil without something good.

But with man, — by Hercules! most of his misfortunes are occasioned by man.

Such is the audacity of man, that he hath learned to counterfeit Nature, yea, and is so bold as to challenge her in her work.

Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen.

However often you may have done them a favour, if you once refuse they forget everything except your refusal.

The happier time, the quicker it passes

And as in men's bodies, so in government, that disease is most serious which proceeds from the head.

It is generally much more shameful to lose a good reputation than never to have acquired it.

Nothing is so unequal as equality.

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.

As touching peaches in general, the very name in Latine whereby they are called Persica, doth evidently show that they were brought out of Persia first.

It is difficult to retain what you may have learned unless you should practice it. -Difficile est tenere quae acceperis nisi exerceas

How many things... are looked upon as quite impossible until they have been actually effected?

There is always something new out of Africa.

When a building is about to fall down, all the mice desert it.

There is no book so bad that it is not profitable in some part. -Nullus est liber tam malus ut non aliqua parte prosit

Too much polishing weakens rather than improves a work.

Glory ought to be the consequence, not the motive of our actions.

The perverted ingenuity of man has given to water the power of intoxicating where wine is not procured. Western nations intoxicate themselves by moistened grain.

It is wonderful how the mind is stirred and quickened into activity by brisk bodily exercise.

Truth comes out in wine.

Nothing is more useful than wine for strengthening the body and also more detrimental to our pleasure if moderation be lacking.

Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neighbour.

No man's abilities are so remarkably shining as not to stand in need of a proper opportunity.

There is no book so bad that some good can not be got out of it.

Everyone is prejudiced in favor of his own powers of discernment.

That indolent but agreeable condition of doing nothing.

The erection of a monument is superfluous, our memory will endure if our lives have deserved it.

His only fault is that he has no fault.

Lust is an enemy to the purse, a foe to the person, a canker to the mind, a corrosive to the conscience, a weakness of the wit, a besotter of the senses, and finally, a mortal bane to all the body.

Nature has given man no better thing than shortness of life.

Among these things, one thing seems certain - that nothing certain exists and that there is nothing more pitiful or more presumptuous than man.

For however often a man may receive an obligation from you, if you refuse a request, all former favors are effaced by this one denial.

Simple diet is best: for many dishes bring many diseases, and rich sauces are worse than even heaping several meats upon each other.

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

Honor puts us under an obligation as binding as necessity is for other people.

As land is improved by sowing it with various seeds, so is the mind by exercising it with different studies.

Wine refreshes the stomach, sharpens the appetite, blunts care and sadness, and conduces to slumber.

Unfinished paintings are more admired than the finished because the artist's actual thoughts are left visible.