Selected Quotes By Aesop
"It is thrifty to prepare today for wants of tomorrow."
Aesop, Wealth
"United you will be more than a match for your enemies. But if you quarrel and separate, your weakness will put you at the mercy of those who attack you."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hidden."
Aesop, Life
“The Fox And The Grapes:
A hungry Fox saw some fine bunches of Grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis, and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air. But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach: so he gave up trying, and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, "I thought those Grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour.”
Aesop, Criticism
"Servants don't know a good master till they have served a worse."
Aesop, Work
“The Astronomer:
An Astronomer used to go out at night to observe the stars. One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well. While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?”
Aesop, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Uninvited guests are often most welcome when they leave."
Aesop, Life
"Self-help is the best help."
Aesop, Life
"It is easy to despise what you cannot get."
Aesop, Criticism
"I can't be friends with a man who blows hot and cold with the same breath."
Aesop, Friendship, Truth
"Expect no reward when you serve the wicked, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pain."
Aesop, Kindness
"Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"Try as one may, it is impossible to deny one's nature."
Aesop, Life
"All men are more concerned to recover what they lose than to acquire what they lack."
Aesop, Life
"It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters."
Aesop, Life
"An Ass put on a Lion's skin and went about the foreset with much merriment, Scaring the foolish beasts by brooks and rocks, Till at last he tried to scare the Fox. But Reynard, hearing from beneath the mane that Raucous voice so petulant and vain, Remarked. O' Ass, I too would run away, But that I know your old familiar bray'. That's just the way with asses, just the way."
Aesop, Friendship
"once upon a time all the rivers combined to protest against the action of the sea in making their waters salt. "When we come to you," said they to the sea, "we are sweet and drinkable; but when once we have mingled with you, our waters become as briny and unpalatable as your own." The sea replied shortly, "Keep away from me, and you'll remain sweet."
Aesop, Friendship
"There are many statues of men slaying lions, but if only the lions were sculptors there might be quite a different set of statues."
Aesop, Life
"The more you want, the more you stand to lose."
Aesop, Wealth
There was once a Dog who used to snap at people and bite them without any provocation, and who was a great nuisance to every one who came to his master's house. So his master fastened a bell round his neck to warn people of his presence. The Dog was very proud of the bell, and strutted about tinkling it with immense satisfaction. But an old dog came up to him and said, "The fewer airs you give yourself the better, my friend. You don't think, do you, that your bell was given you as a reward of merit? On the contrary, it is a badge of disgrace."
Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.”
Aesop, Arrogance
"A man is known by the company he keeps."
Aesop, Friendship
"Vices are their own punishment."
Aesop, Life
"Whoever neglects old friends for the sake of new deserves what he gets if he loses both."
Aesop, Friendship
"The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip a traveler of his clothing. The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an extra wrap. Eventually the wind got tired of it and handed him over to the sun. The sun shone first with moderate warmth, which made the man take off his topcoat. Then it blazed fiercely, till, unable to stand the heat, he stripped and went off to a bathe in a nearby river. Persuasion is more effective than force."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"Wise men say nothing in dangerous times."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself."
Aesop, Goals
"Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own."
Aesop, Intelligence/Wisdom
"He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagles own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"Those who suffer most cry out the least."
Aesop, Life
"Little by little does the trick."
Aesop, Goals
"Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis."
Aesop, Kindness
"Once a wolf, always a wolf."
Aesop, Kindness
"Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth."
Aesop, Wealth
"Adversity tests the sincerity of friends."
Aesop, Friendship
"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."
Aesop, Wealth
"The injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales."
Aesop, Anger and Fighting
"Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear."
Aesop, Wealth
"Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow."
Aesop, Intelligence/Wisdom
"Necessity is the mother of invention."
Aesop, Intelligence/Wisdom
"United we stand; divided we fall."
Aesop, Friendship
"The smaller the mind, the greater the conceit."
Aesop, Arrogance
"Please all, and you will please none."
Aesop, Life
"It is easy to be brave at a safe distance."
Aesop, Courage
"A liar will not be believed even when he speaks the truth."
Aesop, Truth
"Those who cry the loudest are not always the ones who are hurt the most."
Aesop, Life
"If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself."
Aesop, Friendship
"After all is said and done, more is said than done."
Aesop, Work
"Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool."
Aesop, Wealth
"Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties."
Aesop, Wealth
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
Aesop, Government
"A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him."
Aesop, Friendship
"Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself."
Aesop, Friendship
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."