Not hearing something is worse than hearing; hearing something is worse than seeing it in action. Learning reaches its limit and is perfected in action.
Newborns cry the same everywhere. But when they grow up, it turns out that they have different skills. This is the result of education!
The orchid smells nice, but if you put it in your urine, then the perfect man will not go near it, and the simple people will not wear it around their waist. This explains that the orchid itself has some bad qualities, but that the urine in which it has been placed is repulsive. That is why a perfect man prefers to live in a beautiful place and make friends only among educated people. He does so in order to avoid lies and wickedness and to draw near to honest and sincere people.
Tradition says: "The helmsman can be compared to a boat, and the people to the water: the water can carry the boat, but it can also overturn it."
Those who like to argue do not engage in discussion.
The heart is never empty, and yet it is endowed with what is called emptiness. The state when what fills the heart does not harm those who are to be appropriated by it is called emptiness.
Death comes only once, man does not return.
The perfect man is careful when he chooses his place.
You have to learn all your life, until your last breath. He who gives up education is an animal.
I tried to meditate all day, but I did not achieve even what a short study would have given me. I tried to look into the distance, standing on tiptoe, but I couldn't see the expanse seen from above. When you stand on a high place and wave to someone, the hand does not get longer, but it is seen from afar. If you shout into the wind, your voice doesn't get any louder, but the listener hears it very clearly. If you ride a horse-drawn cart, your legs don't get faster, but you can cover a long distance. Boating doesn't make you a better swimmer, but you can cross rivers big and small. When born, the perfect man does not differ from others. He differs from others in that he knows how to rely on things.
Here is the hawthorn and the hair, the orange and the pomelo. as their fruits ripen, they are picked, and in picking them, the trees are injured: the big branches are broken, the small ones are uprooted. because they are useful, they suffer all their lives and die before their time, not being able to live their life given by nature. This happens with all…
If you accept your fate and submit to the inevitable, neither joy nor sorrow will touch you; in ancient times this was called "release from the shackle".
Truth exists equally with lies.
Don't be the servant of glory, don't become the keeper of intrigue, don't let things get the better of you, don't be a slave to knowledge.
Praise and condemnation, that's what human inclinations are according to me. I call a man without human inclinations the one who does not allow himself by approval and rejection to produce any internal damage, and does not try to improve what is given by nature.
Anger differs from insanity only in its shorter duration.
When you talk to a wise man, use few words.
Time weakens the power of all tyranny.
Add a touch of joy to worries.
If someone praises you, check for yourself if this is the case.
Life with a wife is not easy, but life without her is impossible.
Among young people, those who blush are more apt than those who turn pale.
Some madman not recognizing him, beat Cato in the bath: no one would knowingly raise a hand against such a man! When, as a result, this man came to ask for forgiveness, Cato replied: "I do not remember that you beat me."
He who gives importance to small things, he proves, in important matters, a small man.
There is no law that pleases everyone.
Avoid doing yourself what you do not like in others.
The father of the family is better off selling than buying.
Don't buy what you need, but only what is necessary.
The gift of speech is shared by many, wisdom - only the chosen ones.
Some proposed that the supervision of the election be entrusted to Pompey, Cato objected, saying that it was not the laws that should seek the protection of Pompey, but Pompey that of the laws.