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Pliny

(Pliny Gaius Plinius Secundus, Pliny the Elder)

23 – 79 CE

Founding father of the encyclopedia

Roman natural philosopher, influential and prolific author, military commander, and a friend of emperor Vespasian; Pliny wrote probably the first and definitely the most influential encyclopedia, Naturalis Historia (Natural History). His only surviving manuscript, this comprehensive 37-book masterwork based on Stoic and pantheistic philosophy gives a unique window into Ancient Rome. Pliny died suddenly in 79 CE possibly while trying to rescue a friend and their family during the Mount Vesuvian volcanic eruptions.

Eras

Sources

Natural History

Unlisted Sources

Quotes by Pliny (16 quotes)

“How many things are judged impossible before they are accomplished!”

from Natural History

Themes: Carpe diem

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“Fortune favors the brave.”

from Natural History

Themes: Confidence

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“In comparing various authors with one another, I have discovered that some of the gravest and latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making acknowledgment.”

from Natural History

Themes: Pluralism

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“The only certainty is that nothing is certain... nothing is more pitiable, or more presmptuous, than man!”

from Natural History

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“To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to man before the fortieth day from his birth, and then it is looked upon as a miracle of precocity.”

from Natural History

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“Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep.”

from Natural History

Themes: Education

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“It is far from easy to determine whether she [Nature] has proved to man a kind parent or a merciless stepmother.”

from Natural History

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“Let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration.”

from Natural History

Themes: Simplicity

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“With man, most of his misfortunes are occasioned by man.”

from Natural History

Themes: Obstacles

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“The human features and countenance, although composed of but some ten parts or little more, are so fashioned that among so many thousands of men there are no two in existence who cannot be distinguished from one another.”

from Natural History

Themes: Oneness

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“A shoemaker should give no opinion beyond the shoes.”

from Natural History

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“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.”

from Natural History

Themes: Agriculture

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“The agricultural population, says Cato, produces the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers, and a class of citizens the least given of all to evil designs…. A bad bargain is always a ground for repentance.”

from Natural History

Themes: Warriors

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“Take things with a grain of salt and profit by the follow of others.”

from Natural History

Themes: Strategy

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“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 upon as quite impossible until they have actually been effected?”

from Natural History

Themes: Delusion

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“Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught, He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep.”

from Natural History

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Quotes about Pliny (1 quotes)

“Pliny... makes the statement, and for untrustworthiness of statement he cannot easily be surpassed.”

George Henry Lewes 1817 – 1878 CE
English philosopher and soul mate to George Eliot
from Aristotle: a Chapter from the History of Science (1864)

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