Theophrastus Quotes
Theophrastus of Eresus was an ancient Greek philosopher and the immediate successor of Aristotle as head of the Peripatetic School at the Lyceum in Athens. He directed the school for thirty-five years, from 322 BC until his death, and developed Aristotle's research programme particularly in botany, where his Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants founded systematic plant science. The quotes below are attributed to Theophrastus, organized by topic.
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Theophrastus on Death
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Attributed to Theophrastus:
“We die just when we are beginning to live.”
Theophrastus on God
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Attributed to Theophrastus:
“Superstition is the cowardice of the soul confronted with the divine.”
Theophrastus on Knowledge
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“Συνεχές τε … πολυτελὲς ἀνάλωμα εἶναι τὸν χρόνον.”
Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend. | Diogenes Laërtius , Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , Book 5. -
“Diogenes Laërtius , Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers , Book 5.”
Συνεχές τε … πολυτελὲς ἀνάλωμα εἶναι τὸν χρόνον. -
“The Unseasonable man is one who will go up to a busy person, and open his heart to him. He will serenade his mistress when she has a fever. He will address himself to a man who has been cast in a surety-suit, and request him to become his security. He will come to give evidence when the trial is over.”
Characters , ch. 9 (12); translation from R. C. Jebb and J. E. Sandys (trans.), The Characters of Theophrastus (London: Macmillan, 1909), p. 75. -
“Superstition would seem to be simply cowardice in regard to the supernatural.”
Characters , ch. 28 (16); translation from R. C. Jebb and J. E. Sandys (trans.), The Characters of Theophrastus (London: Macmillan, 1909), p. 139. -
“Εἰ μὲν ἀμαθὴς εἶ, φρονίμως ποιεῖς, εἰ δὲ πεπαίδευσαι, ἀφρόνως.”
If you are an ignorant man, you are acting wisely; but if you have had any education, you are behaving like a fool. | Quoted by Diogenes Laërtius ; translation from C. D. Yonge (trans.), The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (London: H. G. Bohn, 1853), p. 196. | Said "when a man preserved a strict silence during the whole of a banquet". -
“If you are an ignorant man, you are acting wisely; but if you have had any education, you are behaving like a fool.”
Εἰ μὲν ἀμαθὴς εἶ, φρονίμως ποιεῖς, εἰ δὲ πεπαίδευσαι, ἀφρόνως. -
“Said "when a man preserved a strict silence during the whole of a banquet".”
Εἰ μὲν ἀμαθὴς εἶ, φρονίμως ποιεῖς, εἰ δὲ πεπαίδευσαι, ἀφρόνως.
Theophrastus on Love
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Attributed to Theophrastus:
“Friendship cannot be at the same time so very profitable and so very honourable.”
Theophrastus on Nature
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Attributed to Theophrastus:
“Plants, like animals, have their own kinds and their own characters.”
Theophrastus on Time
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“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.”
Συνεχές τε … πολυτελὲς ἀνάλωμα εἶναι τὸν χρόνον.
Theophrastus on Truth
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Attributed to Theophrastus:
“The flatterer says what will please his hearer rather than what is true.”