Alas for the affairs of men! When they are fortunate you might compare them to a shadow; and if they are unfortunate, a wet sponge with one dash wipes the picture away.

In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend.

What good is it to live a life that brings pains?

When a man's willing and eager the god's join in.

By polluting clear water with slime you will never find good drinking water.

Destiny waits alike for the free man as well as for him enslaved by another's might.

God lends a helping hand to the man who tries hard.

From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.

What atonement is there for blood spilt upon the earth?

My friends, whoever has had experience of evils knows how whenever a flood of ills comes upon mortals, a man fears everything; but whenever a divine force cheers on our voyage, then we believe that the same fate will always blow fair.

The words of truth are simple.

Time brings all things to pass.

Death is easier than a wretched life; and better never to have born than to live and fare badly.

It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.

Call no man happy till he is dead.

I willingly speak to those who know, but for those who do not know I forget.

But time growing old teaches all things.

For somehow this disease inheres in tyranny, never to trust one's friends.

There is no disgrace in an enemy suffering ill at an enemy's hand, when you hate mutually.

For hostile word let hostile word be paid.

It is in the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered.

Whenever a man makes haste, God too hastens with him.

For the poison of hatred seated near the heart doubles the burden for the one who suffers the disease; he is burdened with his own sorrow, and groans on seeing another's happiness.

And one who is just of his own free will shall not lack for happiness; and he will never come to utter ruin.

It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.

It is an ill thing to be the first to bring news of ill.

It is always in season for old men to learn.

Death is softer by far than tyranny.

For children preserve the fame of a man after his death.

It is a light thing for whoever keeps his foot outside trouble to advise and counsel him that suffers.

Obedience is the mother of success and is wedded to safety.

God's most lordly gift to man is decency of mind.

Time as he grows old teaches all things.

Ah, lives of men! When prosperous they glitter - Like a fair picture; when misfortune comes - A wet sponge at one blow has blurred the painting.

Married love between man and woman is bigger than oaths guarded by right of nature.

I, schooled in misery, know many purifying rites, and I know where speech is proper and where silence.

I say you must not win an unjust case by oaths.

I know how men in exile feed on dreams.

Wisdom comes alone through suffering.

The evils of mortals are manifold; nowhere is trouble of the same wing seen.

A god implants in mortal guilt whenever he wants utterly to confound a house.

Search well and be wise, nor believe that self-willed pride will ever be better than good counsel.

The wisest of the wise may err.

What exists outside is a man's concern; let no woman give advice; and do no mischief within doors.

He who goes unenvied shall not be admired.

There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.

Of prosperity mortals can never have enough.

It is easy when we are in prosperity to give advice to the afflicted.

Words are the physicians of a mind diseased.