Socrates

When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire, and when again under the influence of its kindred desires it is moved with violent motion towards the beauty of corporeal forms, it acquires a surname from this very violent motion, and is called love.

The fewer our wants the more we resemble the Gods.

My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you.

Well I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think that I know what I do not know.

No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.

Worthless people love only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.

Burning logs can carry on quite a conversation! … Have you ever heard apple wood talking? It’s the most loquacious of all. You really can’t get a word in edgeways.

Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.

When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

I will be conquered; I will not capitulate.

In order to fully realize how bad a popular play can be, it is necessary to see it twice.

The bluebird carries the sky on his back.

I wish for you the wisdom to realize that forgiveness has nothing to do with an apology.

Pain never really goes away; you just elevate and get used to it by growing stronger.

It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune, and when you have it, it requires ten times as much skill to keep it.

Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth.

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.

Home life is no more natural to us than a cage is natural to a cockatoo.

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.

I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.