Pliny the Elder (born Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23–79) was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and friend of emperor Vespasian.
It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained.
Why is it that we entertain the belief that for every purpose odd numbers are the most effectual?
Human nature craves novelty.
As land is improved by sowing it with various seeds, so is the mind by exercising it with different studies.
It is this earth that, like a kind mother, receives us at our birth, and sustains us when born; it is this alone, of all the elements around us, that is never found an enemy of man.
Let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration.
The desire to know a thing is heightened by its gratification being deferred.
In time of sickness the soul collects itself anew.
Nothing which we can imagine about Nature is incredible.
A dear bargain is always disagreeable, particularly as it is a reflection upon the buyer's judgment.
Indeed, what is there that does not appear marvelous when it comes to our knowledge for the first time? How many things, too, are looked up on as quite impossible until they have been actually effected?
The feasant hens of Colchis, which have two ears as it were consisting of feathers, which they will set up and lay down as they list.
In the literary as well as military world, most powerful abilities will often be found concealed under a rustic garb.
Wine refreshes the stomach, sharpens the appetite, blunts care and sadness, and conduces to slumber.
Hope is a working-man's dream.
We listen with deep interest to what we hear, for to man novelty is ever charming.
We neglect those things which are under our very eyes, and heedless of things within our grasp, pursue those which are afar off.
Nothing is so unequal as equality.
In wine there is health (In vino sanitas)
The leading distinction of magnets is sex. . . The kind that is found in Troas is black, and of the female sex, and consequently destitute of attractive power.