Quotes
Quotes about War
Jupiter and the Monkey Jupiter issued a proclamation to all the beasts of the forest and promised a royal reward to the one whose offspring should be deemed the handsomest. The Monkey came with the rest and presented, with all a mother's tenderness, a flat-nosed, hairless, ill-featured young Monkey as a candidate for the promised reward. A general laugh saluted her on the presentation of her son. She resolutely said, I know not whether Jupiter will allot the prize to my son, but this I do know, that he is at least in the eyes of me his mother, the dearest, handsomest, and most beautiful of all.
The Crab and Its Mother A crab said to her son, Why do you walk so one-sided, my child? It is far more becoming to go straight forward. The young Crab replied: Quite true, dear Mother; and if you will show me the straight way, I will promise to walk in it. The Mother tried in vain, and submitted without remonstrance to the reproof of her child. Example is more powerful than precept.
The Heifer and the Ox A heifer saw an Ox hard at work harnessed to a plow, and tormented him with reflections on his unhappy fate in being compelled to labor. Shortly afterwards, at the harvest festival, the owner released the Ox from his yoke, but bound the Heifer with cords and led him away to the altar to be slain in honor of the occasion. The Ox saw what was being done, and said with a smile to the Heifer: For this you were allowed to live in idleness, because you were presently to be sacrificed.
The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk A mouse who always lived on the land, by an unlucky chance formed an intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived for the most part in the water. The Frog, one day intent on mischief, bound the foot of the Mouse tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog first of all led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they were accustomed to find their food. After this, he gradually led him towards the pool in which he lived, until reaching the very brink, he suddenly jumped in, dragging the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam croaking about, as if he had done a good deed. The unhappy Mouse was soon suffocated by the water, and his dead body floated about on the surface, tied to the foot of the Frog. A Hawk observed it, and, pouncing upon it with his talons, carried it aloft. The Frog, being still fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and was eaten by the Hawk. Harm hatch, harm catch.
The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar An old woman found an empty jar which had lately been full of prime old wine and which still retained the fragrant smell of its former contents. She greedily placed it several times to her nose, and drawing it backwards and forwards said, O most delicious! How nice must the Wine itself have been, when it leaves behind in the very vessel which contained it so sweet a perfume! The memory of a good deed lives.
The Stag in the Ox-Stall A stag, roundly chased by the hounds and blinded by fear to the danger he was running into, took shelter in a farmyard and hid himself in a shed among the oxen. An Ox gave him this kindly warning: O unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own accord, incur destruction and trust yourself in the house of your enemy?' The Stag replied: Only allow me, friend, to stay where I am, and I will undertake to find some favorable opportunity of effecting my escape. At the approach of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did not see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff with several laborers passed through the shed and failed to notice him. The Stag, congratulating himself on his safety, began to express his sincere thanks to the Oxen who had kindly helped him in the hour of need. One of them again answered him: We indeed wish you well, but the danger is not over. There is one other yet to pass through the shed, who has as it were a hundred eyes, and until he has come and gone, your life is still in peril. At that moment the master himself entered, and having had to complain that his oxen had not been properly fed, he went up to their racks and cried out: Why is there such a scarcity of fodder? There is not half enough straw for them to lie on. Those lazy fellows have not even swept the cobwebs away. While he thus examined everything in turn, he spied the tips of the antlers of the Stag peeping out of the straw. Then summoning his laborers, he ordered that the Stag should be seized and killed.
The Farmer and the Snake One winter a Farmer found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion on it, and taking it up, placed it in his bosom. The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and resuming its natural instincts, bit its benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal wound. Oh, cried the Farmer with his last breath, I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel. The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.
The Two Pots A river carried down in its stream two Pots, one made of earthenware and the other of brass. The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, Pray keep at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish to come near you. Equals make the best friends.
A slight touch of friendly malice and amusement towards those we love keeps our affections for them from turning flat.
A slight touch of friendly malice and amusement towards those we love keeps our affections for them from turning flat.
The awareness of the ambiguity of one's highest achievements (as well as one's deepest failures) is a definite symptom of maturity.
I find that a man is as old as his work. If his work keeps him from moving forward, he will look forward with the work.
A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of its bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world.
A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of its bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world.
There is always some specific moment when we become aware that our youth is gone; but, years after, we know it was much later.
Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forewards. -Soren Kierkegaard.
Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another ...
In ancient times, the sacred Plough employ'd The Kings and awful Fathers of mankind: And some, with whom compared your insect-tribes Are but the beings of a summer's day, Have held the Scale of Empire, ruled the Storm Of mighty War; then, with victorious hand, Disdaining little delicacies, seized The Plough, and, greatly independent, scorned All the vile stores corruption can bestow.
E'en in mid-harvest, while the jocund swain Pluck'd from the brittle stalk the golden grain, Oft have I seen the war of winds contend, And prone on earth th' infuriate storm descend, Waste far and wide, and by the roots uptorn, The heavy harvest sweep through ether borne, As light straw and rapid stubble fly In dark'ning whirlwinds round the wintry sky.
Before marriage a man yearns for a woman. Afterward the "y" is silent.
A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward.
Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.
There's nothing like a Catholic wedding to make you wish life had a fast forward button.
Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.
Warm weather fosters growth: cold weather destroys it. Thus a man with an unsympathetic temperament has a scant joy: but a man with a warm and friendly heart overflowing blessings, and his beneficence will extend to posterity.
