Pliny the elder quotes

Man alone at the very moment of his birth, cast naked upon the naked earth, does she abandon to cries and lamentations.

We ought to be guarded against every appearance of envy, as a passion that always implies inferiority wherever it resides.

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.

And that all seas are made calme and still with oile; and therefore the Divers under the water doe spirt and sprinkle it abroad with their mouthes because it dulceth and allaieth the unpleasant nature thereof, and carrieth a light with it.

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

Nature makes us buy her presents at the price of so many sufferings that it is doubtful whether she deserves most the name of parent or stepmother.

Better do nothing than do ill.

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

The ancients had little doubt about the true shape of the earth: "It's [the world's] shape has the rounded appearance of a perfect sphere. This is shown first of all by the name of 'orb' which is bestowed upon it by the general consent of mankind. ...Our eyesight also confirms this belief, because the firmament presents the aspect of a concave hemisphere equidistant in every direction, which would be impossible in the case of any other figure."

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

War should neither be feared nor provoked.

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?

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

The agricultural population produces the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers,46 and a class of citizens the least given of all to evil designs.

We live by reposing trust in each other.

Example is the softest and least invidious way of commanding.

It has been observed that the height of a man from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot is equal to the distance between the tips of the middle fingers of the two hands when extended in a straight line.

In time of sickness the soul collects itself anew.

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

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

Now, that the sovereign power and deity, whatsoever it is, should have regard of mankind, is a toy and vanity worthy to be laughed at.

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

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

Hope is a working-man's dream.

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.

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

I would have a man generous to his country, his neighbors, his kindred, his friends, and most of all his poor friends. Not like some who are most lavish with those who are able to give most of them.

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

Our civilization depends largely on paper.

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.

In the literary as well as military world, most powerful abilities will often be found concealed under a rustic garb.

The only certainty is uncertainty

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

Nothing is so unequal as equality.

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

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

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.

The brain is the citadel of sense perception.

The first (barbers) that entered Italy came out of Sicily and it was in the 454 yeare after the foundation of Rome. Brought in they were by P. Ticinius Mena as Verra doth report for before that time they never cut their hair. The first that was shaven every day was Scipio Africanus, and after cometh Augustus the Emperor who evermore used the razor.

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

Cincinnatus was ploughing his four jugera of land upon the Vaticanian Hill, the same that are still known as the Quintian Meadows, when the messenger brought him the dictatorship, finding him, the tradition says, stripped to the work.

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!

Human nature craves novelty.

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.

Truth comes out in wine.

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.

Home is where the heart is.

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

In wine there is health (In vino sanitas)

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

The happier the moment the shorter.

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.

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

Nothing which we can imagine about Nature is incredible.

Many dishes bring many diseases.

No one is wise at all times.

Chance is a second master.

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.

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

In wine, there's truth.

Human nature is fond of novelty.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

...shellfish are the prime cause of the decline of morals and the adaptation of an extravagant lifestyle. Indeed of the whole realm of Nature the sea is in many ways the most harmful to the stomach, with its great variety of dishes and tasty fish.

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 javelin-snake amphiptere hurls itself from the branches of trees.

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

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.

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.

His only fault is that he has no fault.

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.

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

On a farm the best fertilizer is the master's eye.

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

It is this earth that, like a kind mother, receives us at our birth, and sustains us when born; it is this alone, of all the elements around us, that is never found an enemy of man.

The most valuable discoveries have found their origin in the most trivial accidents.

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.

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 leading distinction in magnets is the sex, male and female, and the next great difference in them is the colour. Those of Magnesia, bordering on Macedonia, are of a reddish black; those of Breotia are more red than black; and the kind that is found in Troas is black, of the female sex, and consequently destitute of attractive power.

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

Envy always implies conscious inferiority wherever it resides.

A short death is the sovereign good hap of human life.

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

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

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

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.

The human features and countenance, although composed of but some ten parts or little more, are so fashioned that among so many thousands of men there are no two in existence who cannot be distinguished from one another.

I think it is the most beautiful and humane thing in the world, so to mingle gravity with pleasure that the one may not sink into melancholy, nor the other rise up into wantonness.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

True happiness consists in being considered deserving of it.

From the end spring new beginnings.

Their best and most wholesome feeding is upon one dish and no more and the same plaine and simple: for surely this hudling of many meats one upon another of divers tastes is pestiferous. But sundrie sauces are more dangerous than that.

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.

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

Man naturally yearns for novelty.

There is always something new out of Africa.

When collapse is imminent, the little rodents flee.

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

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

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.

This only is certain, that there is nothing certain.

The only thing man knows instinctively is how to weep.