415 Quotes by Aesop

Forbear harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune.

once upon a time all the rivers combined to protest against the action of the sea in making their waters salt. "When we come to you," sad they to the sea, "we are sweet and drinkable; but when once we have mingled with you, our waters become as briny and unpalatable as your own." The sea replied shortly, "Keep away from me, and you'll remain sweet.

It pays to be content with your lot.

Gentle persuasion succeeds where force fails.

Little friends may prove great friends.

He that is hard to please, may get nothing in the end.

Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.

A consciousness of misfortunes arising from a man's own misconduct aggravates their bitterness.

A farmer who had a quarrelsome family called his sons and told them to lay a bunch of sticks before him. Then, after laying the sticks parallel to one another and binding them, he challenged his sons, one after one, to pick up the bundle and break it. They all tried, but in vain. Then, untying the bundle, he gave them the sticks to break one by one. This they did with the greatest ease. Then said the father, "Thus, my sons, as long as you remain united, you are a match for anything, but differ and separate, and you are undone".