On Wisdom

Everyone who learns well is willing to be obedient.

— Musonius Rufus

Lectures 11

Living without knowing is like eating without chewing.

— Chrysippus

Fragment, in Stobaeus

The wise man lacks nothing, but needs many things; the fool, on the other hand, needs nothing — for he knows not how to use anything — yet lacks everything.

— Chrysippus

Fragment, in Seneca Letters 9.14

The good of man is the perfect use of reason.

— Chrysippus

Fragment, in Diogenes Laertius 7.88

Those who know neither what the world is nor what they themselves are, must be ignorant of everything.

— Chrysippus

Fragment, in Cicero On the Ends 4.6

Follow where reason leads.

— Zeno of Citium

Fragment, in Diogenes Laertius 7.32

Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue.

— Zeno of Citium

Fragment, in Diogenes Laertius 7.26

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.

— Zeno of Citium

Attributed, in Diogenes Laertius

Bitter are the roots of study, but how sweet its fruit.

— Cato the Younger

Attributed, via Diogenes Laertius 5.18

Speak briefly and to the point.

— Cato the Younger

via Plutarch, Life of Cato the Younger 25