Pythagoras (c.580–500 BCE) was purportedly a leading Greek mathematician and philosopher, best known for the theorem about right-angled triangles that bears his name.
Pythagoras is one of antiquity’s most mysterious personalities; not much is known about his life. Some scholars have doubted not only his intellectual achievements but also whether he ever existed.
Pythagoras is supposed to have been born on the Greek island of Samos. He journeyed extensively in his youth, visiting Egypt and Persia, before settling in Crotone in southern Italy. There, he established a school of philosophy centered on mathematics, mysticism, and rational inquiry, yet it was thoroughly esoteric. His disciples, the Pythagoreans, conducted a systematized life of study and exercise and refrained from consuming meat, beans, or fish. Pythagoreans such as Philolaus and Archytas became mathematical luminaries in their own right.
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Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Gossip, Success
Virtue is harmony.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Virtues, Virtue
Write in the sand the flaws of your friend.
—Pythagoras
Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Words
Above all things, reverenee yourself.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Self-respect
Be silent, or say something better than silence.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Silence, One liners
Let not sleep fall upon thy eyes till thou hast thrice reviewed the transactions of the past day. Where have I turned aside from rectitude? What have I been doing? What have I left undone, which I ought to have done? Begin thus from the first act, and proceed; and, in conclusion, at the ill which thou hast done, be troubled, and rejoice for the good.
—Pythagoras
He who knoweth not what he ought to know, is a brute beast among men; he that knoweth no more than he hath need of, is a man among brute beasts; and he that knoweth all that may be known, is as a God among men.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Learning
Respect yourself most of all.
—Pythagoras
If there be light, then there is darkness; if cold, then heat; if height, depth also; if solid, then fluid; hardness and softness; roughness and smoothness; calm and tempest; prosperity and adversity; life and death.
—Pythagoras
Topics: World
It is better wither to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Silence
Above the cloud with its shadow is the star with its light. Above all things reverence thyself.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Self-love
Silence is better than unmeaning words.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Words, One liners
Wisdom thoroughly learned, will never be forgotten.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Wisdom
Strength of mind rests in sobriety; for this keeps your reason unclouded by passion.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Strength
It is only necessary to make war with five things: with the maladies of the body, the ignorances of the mind, with the passions of the body, with the seditions of the city, and the discords of families.
—Pythagoras
Topics: War
He who knoweth not what he ought to know, is a brute beast among men; he that knoweth no more than he hath need of, is a man among brute beasts; and he that knoweth all that may be known, is as a God among men.
—Pythagoras
Wealth is a weak anchor, and glory cannot support a man; this is the law of God, that virtue only is firm, and cannot be shaken by a tempest.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Virtue
A wound from a tongue is worse than a wound from a sword; for the latter affects only the body, the former the spirit.
—Pythagoras
Anger begins in folly, and ends in repentance.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Anger
In this theater of man’s life, it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers-on.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Rest, Leisure
Ability and necessity dwell near each other.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Ability
Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Friendship, Friends, Journeys
Choose always the way that seems best, however rough it may be, and custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Being Ourselves, Custom, Choice, Decisions
Truth is so great a perfection, that if God would render himself visible to men, he would choose light for his body and truth for his soul.
—Pythagoras
Topics: Truth, Perfection
Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb.
—Pythagoras
As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other.
—Pythagoras
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