Quotes by Aesop

Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

It pays to be content with your lot.

He that is hard to please, may get nothing in the end.

Good things come in small packages.

Slow and Steady wins the race.

The unhappy derive comfort from the misfortunes of others.

Please all, and you will please none.

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.

It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth, don't let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.

In a crisis, give help first and then advice.

Enemies promises were made to be broken.

Happy is the person who learns from the misfortunes of others.

It pays to be prepared.

It is foolish to try to imitate the skills of others.

Union gives strength.

We should use our judgment before coming to a decision.

Save for a rainy day.

Don't believe everything you hear.

Don't pretend to be something you aren't.

Self conceit may lead to self destruction.

Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

A kindness is never wasted.

There can be little liking where there is no likeness.

Acquaintance softens prejudice.

Adversity tests the sincerity of friends.

Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find-nothing.

It is easy to despise what you cannot get.

We often despise what is most useful to us.

Conceit may bring about one's own downfall.

Who acts in haste repents at leisure.

Equals make the best friends.

What's bred in the bone will stick to the flesh.

Labour is the source of every blessing.

All men are more concerned to recover what they lose than to acquire what they lack.

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.

The value is in the worth, not in the number.

Better poverty without a care than wealth with its many obligations.

Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

Don't neglect the future in times of plenty, for tomorrow you may need what you wasted today.

He who plots to hurt others often hurts himself.

Gentle persuasion succeeds where force fails.

Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office.

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.

Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.

Those who enter through the back door can expect to be shown out through the window.

You will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable enemies.

The fly sat upon the axel-tree of the chariot-wheel and said, 'What a dust do I raise!'

Every man for himself.

Being a good example teaches others to be good.

Much wants more and loses all.

Never trust advice from a man in the throes of his own difficulty.

Every man should be content to mind his own business.

A Fox entered the house of an actor and, rummaging through all his properties, came upon a Mask, an admirable imitation of a human head. He placed his paws on it and said, What a beautiful head! Yet it is of no value, as it entirely lacks brains.

If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.

It is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

You may share the labors of the great, but you will not share the spoil.

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.

It is useless attacking the insensible.

He that has many friends, has no friends.

He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends.

A consciousness of misfortunes arising from a man's own misconduct aggravates their bitterness.

Our mere anticipations of life outrun its realities.

Zeal should not outrun discretion.

Lay not the blame on me, O sailor, but on the winds. By nature I am as calm and safe as the land itself, but the winds fall upon me with their gusts and gales, and lash me into a fury that is not natural to me.

There are many statues of men slaying lions, but if only the lions were sculptors there might be quite a different set of statues.

Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.

I thought these grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour.

Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.

Your birthday is the vintage of your wine; the mark that warns you of your future.

Don't cry over spilt milk.

The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.

After the rain cometh the fair weather.

Only cowards insult dying majesty.

Even a hare, the weakest of animals, may insult a dead lion.

Better to starve free than be a fat slave.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Enemies' promises were made to be broken.

He who incites to strife is worse than he who takes part in it.

Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.

Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.

In union there is strength.

If you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you for theirs.

Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in.

The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.

We should look to the mind, and not to the outward appearance.

It is with our passions as it is with fire and water, they are good servants, but bad masters.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Our insignificance is often the cause of our safety.

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.

We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.

Appearances are often deceiving.

He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own.

Any excuse will serve a tyrant.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

He that is discontented in one place will seldom be happy in another.

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.

After all is said and done, more is said than done.

Slow but steady wins the race.

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.

Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.

A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.

The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.