Pliny the Elder Quotations

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

There is always something new out of Africa.

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.

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.

In comparing various authors with one another, I have discovered that some of the gravest and latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making acknowledgment.

The lust of avarice as so totally seized upon mankind that their wealth seems rather to possess them than they possess their wealth.

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.

The only certainty is that nothing is certain.

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.

No mortal man, moreover is wise at all moments.

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

The best plan is to profit by the folly of others.

Better do nothing than do ill.

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

Accustom yourself to master and overcome things of difficulty; for if you observe, the left hand for want of practice is insignificant, and not adapted to general business; yet it holds the bridle better than the right, from constant use.

Men are most apt to believe what they least understand; and through the lust of human wit obscure things are more easily credited.

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

From the end spring new beginnings.

It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained.

Contact with [menstrual blood] turns new wine sour, crops touched by it become barren, grafts die, seed in gardens are dried up, the fruit of trees fall off, the edge of steel and the gleam of ivory are dulled, hives of bees die, even bronze and iron are at once seized by rust, and a horrible smell fills the air; to taste it drives dogs mad and infects their bites with an incurable poison.

In wine, there's truth.

With man, most of his misfortunes are occasioned by man.

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.

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.

Truth comes out in wine.

Nothing is so unequal as equality.

The agricultural population, says Cato, produces the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers, and a class of citizens the least given of all too evil designs.

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

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

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

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

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

The only certainty is uncertainty

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.

The most disgraceful cause of the scarcity [of remedies] is that even those who know them do not want to point them out, as if they were going to lose what they pass on to others.

Wine maketh the band quivering, the eye watery, the night unquiet, lewd dreams, a stinking breath in the morning, and an utter forgetfulness of all things.

The great business of man is to improve his mind, and govern his manners; all other projects and pursuits, whether in our power to compass or not, are only amusements.

There is an herb named in Latine Convolvulus (i.e. with wind), growing among shrubs and bushes, with carrieth a flower not unlike to this Lilly, save that it yeeldeth no smell nor hath those chives within; for whitenesse they resemble one another very much, as if Nature in making this floure were a learning and trying her skill how to frame the Lilly indeed.

Let honor be to us as strong an obligation as necessity is to others.

The largest land animal is the elephant, and it is the nearest to man in intelligence: it understands the language of its country and obeys orders, remembers duties that it has been taught, is pleased by affection and by marks of honour, nay more it possesses virtues rare even in man, honesty, wisdom, justice, also respect for the stars and reverence for the sun and moon.

The leading distinction of magnets is sex... The kind that is found in Troas is black, and of the female sex, and consequently destitute of attractive power.

We neglect those things which are under our very eyes, and heedless of things within our grasp, pursue those which are afar off.

Most men are afraid of a bad name, but few fear their consciences.

Wine takes away reason, engenders insanity, leads to thousands of crimes, and imposes such an enormous expense on nations.

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

Indeed, what is there that does not appear marvelous when it comes to our knowledge for the first time? How many things, too, are looked up on as quite impossible until they have been actually effected?

To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to man before the fortieth day from his birth, and then it is looked upon as a miracle of precocity.

God has no power over the past except to cover it with oblivion.

True happiness consists in being considered deserving of it.

Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep.

Compassion and shame come over one who considers how precarious is the origin of the proudest of living beings: often the smell of a lately extinguished lamp is enough to cause a miscarriage. And to think that from such a frail beginning a tyrant or butcher may be born! You who trust in your physical strength, who embrace the gifts of fortune and consider yourself not their ward but their son, you who have a domineering spirit, you who consider yourself a god as soon as success swells your breast, think how little could have destroyed you!

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

Home is where the heart is.

The enjoyments of this life are not equal to its evils.

... many other means there be, that promise the foreknowledge of things to come: besides the raising up and conjuring of ghosts departed, the conference also with familiars and spirits infernal. And all these were found out in our days, to be no better than vanities and false illusions...

In time of sickness the soul collects itself anew.

The happier the moment the shorter.

Sure, football is a silly game. But have you seen what else is on television?

Hope is a working-man's dream.

Why is it that we entertain the belief that for every purpose odd numbers are the most effectual?

Amid the sufferings of life on earth, suicide is God's best gift to man.

Suicide is a privilege of man which deity does not possess.

As in our lives so also in our studies, it is most becoming and most wise, so to temper gravity with cheerfulness, that the former may not imbue our minds with melancholy, nor the latter degenerate into licentiousness.

Chance is a second master.

When collapse is imminent, the little rodents flee.

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.

Let that which is wanting in income be supplied by economy.

Man naturally yearns for novelty.

There is alas no law against incompetency; no striking example is made. They learn by our bodily jeopardy and make experiments until the death of the patients, and the doctor is the only person not punished for murder.

This only is certain, that there is nothing certain.

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.

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.

No book so bad but some part may be of use.

Our youth and manhood are due to our country, but our declining years are due to ourselves.

True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, and writing what deserves to be read.

We listen with deep interest to what we hear, for to man novelty is ever charming.

War should neither be feared nor provoked.

The desire to know a thing is heightened by its gratification being deferred.

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.

His only fault is that he has no fault.

Our civilization depends largely on paper.

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

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

Nulla dies sine linea - Not a day without a line.

The only thing man knows instinctively is how to weep.

The best kind of wine is that which is most pleasant to him who drinks it.

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.

Cats too, with what silent stealthiness, with what light steps do they creep up to a bird!

A dear bargain is always disagreeable, particularly as it is a reflection upon the buyer's judgment.

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

In wine there is health (In vino sanitas)

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

Human nature is fond of novelty.

No one is wise at all times.

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

It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.

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.

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.