Démokritos citáty

„Je rozumný ten, kto nesmúti pre to, čo nemá, ale sa raduje z toho, čo má.“

„Život sa podobá knihe. Blázon v nej listuje letmo, zatiaľ čo múdry pri čítaní premýšľa, pretože vie, že čítať môže iba raz.“

„Nerozumní sa tešia zo ziskov náhody, skúsení len zo ziskov múdrosti.“

„Kto nemá jediného priateľa, toho život nestojí za to, aby žil.“

„Ak pochvale nerozumieš, predpokladaj, že ti len lichotia.“

„Otcovo sebaovládanie je pre deti najlepším ponaučením.“

„Stále chcenie skutky nedokončí.“

„Kto odporuje a veľa tára, je neschopný sa naučiť potrebné.“

„Premôcť zlé návyky sa dá iba dnes, nie zajtra.“

„Dobrý človek nedbá, ak ho haní zlý.“

„Je nerozumné chcieť sa páčiť iným, múdrejšie je, keď sa iní páčia nám.“

„Človek je svet v malom.“

„Najviac zo všetkého ľudia stoja o to, zachovať si život a zo všetkého najmenej si ho šetria.“

„Každý, kto má v rukách moc, má sklon ju zneužívať.“

„Dobročinný nie je ten, kto pozerá na odmenu, ale ten, kto si predsavzal robiť dobre.“

„Ak sa túžba po peniazoch neobmedzuje nasýtením, je oveľa horšia ako najväčšia chudoba, lebo väčšie túžby spôsobujú väčšie potreby.“

„Šťastie a nešťastie je vecou duše.“

„Lepšie je vytýkať vlastné chyby, než cudzie.“

„Prácu uľahčuje návyk.“

„Zdá sa, že kto nemiluje, nie je milovaný ani jediným človekom.“

„Nerozumný túžia po dlhom živote, nech sa tešia z dlhého života.“

„Odchovať deti je neistá vec, lebo úspech je tu plný zápasov a starostí a neúspech je väčší nad iné bolesti.“

„Treba hovoriť pravdu, nie hovoriť veľa.“

„Získať peniaze nie je neužitočné, ale získať ich nespravodlivo, je nad všetko najhoršie.“

“The brave man is not only he who overcomes the enemy, but he who is stronger than pleasures. Some men are masters of cities, but are enslaved to women.”

“[Democritus says:] By convention sweet is sweet, by convention bitter is bitter, by convention hot is hot, by convention cold is cold, by convention color is color. But in reality there are atoms and the void. That is, the objects of sense are supposed to be real and it is customary to regard them as such, but in truth they are not. Only the atoms and the void are real.”

“He who does wrong is more unhappy than he who suffers wrong.”

“Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.”

“Men have fashioned an image of Chance as an excuse for their own stupidity. For Chance rarely conflicts with intelligence, and most things in life can be set in order by an intelligent sharpsightedness.”

“There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.”

“In a shared fish, there are no bones.”

“If any one hearken with understanding to these sayings of mine many a deed worthy of a good man shall he perform and many a foolish deed be spared.”

“He who intends to enjoy life should not be busy about many things, and in what he does should not undertake what exceeds his natural capacity. On the contrary, he should have himself so in hand that even when fortune comes his way, and is apparently ready to lead him on to higher things, he should put her aside and not o'erreach his powers. For a being of moderate size is safer than one that bulks too big.”

“Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil.”

“No one deserves to live who has not at least one good-man-and-true for a friend.”

“Good breeding in cattle depends on physical health, but in men on a well-formed character.”

“A sensible man takes pleasure in what he has instead of pining for what he has not.”

“The friendship of one wise man is better than the friendship of a host of fools.”

“The right-minded man, ever inclined to righteous and lawful deeds, is joyous day and night, and strong, and free from care. But if a man take no heed of the right, and leave undone the things he ought to do, then will the recollection of no one of all his transgressions bring him any joy, but only anxiety and self-reproaching.”

“Tis well to restrain the wicked, and in any case not to join him in his wrong-doing.”

“Tis a grievous thing to be subject to an inferior.”

“If your desires are not great, a little will seem much to you; for small appetite makes poverty equivalent to wealth.”

“My enemy is not the man who wrongs me, but the man who means to wrong me.”

“You can tell the man who rings true from the man who rings false, not by his deeds alone, but also by his desires.”

“Now as of old the gods give men all good things, excepting only those that are baneful and injurious and useless. These, now as of old, are not gifts of the gods: men stumble into them themselves because of their own blindness and folly.”

“Many who have not learned wisdom live wisely, and many who do the basest deeds can make most learned speeches.”

“Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions.”

“Fools learn wisdom through misfortune.”

“Education is an ornament for the prosperous, a refuge for the unfortunate.”

“False men and shams talk big and do nothing.”

“The laws would not prevent each man from living according to his inclination, unless individuals harmed each other; for envy creates the beginning of strife.”

“Good means not [merely] not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.”

“Disease of the home and of the life comes about in the same way as that of the body.”