Aesop Quotes

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself.

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.

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.

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

Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.

Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool

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

If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself.

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

Those who cry the loudest are not always the ones who are hurt the most

It is easy to be brave at a safe distance.

Please all, and you will please none.

The smaller the mind, the greater the conceit.

United we stand; divided we fall.

But if the gods do not exist at all - then we are lost,' I said. On the contrary - we are found!' said Aesop. But when we are afraid, who can we turn to, if not the gods?' Ourselves. We turn to ourselves anyway. We only pretend there are gods and that they care about us. It is a comforting falsehood.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

No one believes a liar even when he tells the truth

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

Adversity tests the sincerity of friends

The injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales.

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

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

Once a wolf, always a wolf.

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.

Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.

In trying to please all, he had pleased none.

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

Those who suffer most cry out the least.

Little by little does the trick.

We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction

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.

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

Wise men say nothing in dangerous times

Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself.

Vices are their own punishment

A man is known by the company he keeps

Whoever neglects old friends for the sake of new deserves what e gets if he loses both

Be content with your lot; once cannot be first in everything.

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

The more you want, the more you stand to lose

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

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

Try as one may, it is impossible to deny one's nature

Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten

It is easy to despise what you cannot get

Expect no reward when you serve the wicked, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pain

Uninvited guests are often most welcome when they leave

Slow and steady wins the race." "That is almost always untrue." "Take it up with Aesop." "Aesop never existed. The stories credited to him were the work of two female slaves." "That sounds about typical. I'll ponder it on the way down.

Self-help is the best help

I can't be friends with a man who blows hot and cold with the same breath.

Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hidden.

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.

Hester shook her head. 'Don't confuse what you do with who you are, dearie. Besides, there's no shame in humble work. Why, Aesop himself, the king of storytellers, was a slave his whole life. Never drew a free breath, yet he shaped the world with just three small words: there once was. And where are his great masters now, hmm? Rotting in tombs, if they're lucky. But Aesop - he still lives to this day, dancin' on the tip of every tongue what's ever told a tale.' She winked at Molly. 'Think on that, next time you're scrubbing floors.

Servants don't know a good master till they have served a worse.

It is thrifty to prepare today for wants of tomorrow.

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.

It is one thing to conceive a good plan, and another to execute it

Keep your place in life and your place will keep you

Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

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," sad 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.

No argument, no matter how convincing, will give courage to a coward

Facts speak plainer than words

If you are wise you won't be deceived by the innocent airs of those whom you have once found to be dangerous.

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

Sometimes the slow ones blame the active for the delay.

It is absurd to ape our betters.

Do not tell others how to act unless you can set a good example.

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.

Persuasion is better than force.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

I am sure the grapes are sour.

Much wants more and loses all.

Slow but steady wins the race.

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.

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

Life's not a bitch, life is a beautiful woman, you only call her a bitch 'cause she won't let you get that pussy.

...convinced that in trying to please all, he had pleased none, and had lost his ass into the bargain.

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.

Every man carries two bags about him, one in front and one behind, and both are full of faults. The bag in front contains his neighbors' faults, the one behind his own. Hence it is that men do not see their own faults, but never fail to see those of others.

Slow and steady wins the race.

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.

What is most truly valuable is often underrated.

In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest.

If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.

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

Before i could utter a word, my listeners had left me long ago.

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

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

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.

THE MISCHIEVOUS DOG 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.

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.

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?

This is illustrated by one of Aesop’s fables, which says that each of us is born with two sacks suspended from our neck: one filled with the faults of others that hangs within our view and one hidden behind our back filled with our own faults. We see the flaws of others quite clearly, in other words, but we have a blind spot for our own. The New Testament likewise asks why we look at the tiny splinter of wood in our brother’s eye yet pay no attention to the great plank of wood obscuring our own view (Matthew 7:3–5).

Every man carries Two Bags about with him, one in front and one behind, and both are packed full of faults. The Bag in front contains his neighbours’ faults, the one behind his own. Hence it is that men do not see their own faults, but never fail to see those of others.

THE FOX AND THE CROW A Crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece of cheese in her beak when a Fox observed her and set his wits to work to discover some way of getting the cheese. Coming and standing under the tree he looked up and said, "What a noble bird I see above me! Her beauty is without equal, the hue of her plumage exquisite. If only her voice is as sweet as her looks are fair, she ought without doubt to be Queen of the Birds." The Crow was hugely flattered by this, and just to show the Fox that she could sing she gave a loud caw. Down came the cheese, of course, and the Fox, snatching it up, said, "You have a voice, madam, I see: what you want is wits.

The Flies And The Honey-Pot A NUMBER of Flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned in a housekeeper's room, and placing their feet in it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed, "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves." Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.

The Tree and the Reed "Well, little one," said a Tree to a Reed that was growing at its foot, "why do you not plant your feet deeply in the ground, and raise your head boldly in the air as I do?" "I am contented with my lot," said the Reed. "I may not be so grand, but I think I am safer." "Safe!" sneered the Tree. "Who shall pluck me up by the roots or bow my head to the ground?" But it soon had to repent of its boasting, for a hurricane arose which tore it up from its roots, and cast it a useless log on the ground, while the little Reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. Obscurity often brings safety.

The beasts of the field and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be. During his reign he made a royal proclamation for a general assembly of all the birds and beasts, and drew up conditions for a universal league, in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live together in perfect peace and amity. The Hare said, “Oh, how I have longed to see this day, in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong.” And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.

The Wolf And The Lamb   WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me." "Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born." Then said the Wolf, "You feed in my pasture." "No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well." "No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations." The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.