“If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“You will earn the respect of all if you begin by earning the respect of yourself. Don’t expect to encourage good deeds in people conscious of your own misdeeds.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“If we were to measure what is good by how much pleasure it brings, nothing would be better than self-control- if we were to measure what is to be avoided by its pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“Since every man dies, it is better to die with distinction than to live long.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“Humanity must seek what is NOT simple and obvious using the simple and obvious.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“The best livelihood (particularly for the strong) is earning a living from the soil, whether you own your land or not. Many can support their families by farming land owned by the state or private landowners. Some even get rich through hard work with their own hands. The earth repays those who cultivate her, both justly and well , multiplying what she received – endowing in abundance all the necessities of life to anyone willing to work-and all this without violating your dignity or self-respect !”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“We will train both soul and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduring pains.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“For mankind, evil is injustice and cruelty and indifference to a neighbour’s trouble, while virtue is brotherly love and goodness and justice and beneficence and concern for the welfare of your neighbour—with.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“In order to protect ourselves we must live like doctors and be continually treating ourselves with reason.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“Just as plants receive nourishment for survival, not pleasure-for humans, food is the medicine of life. Therefore it is appropriate for us to eat for living, not pleasure, especially if we want to follow the wise words of Socrates, who said most men live to eat: I eat to live.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“From good people you’ll learn good, but if you mingle with the bad you’ll destroy such soul as you had.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
“It is not possible to live well today unless you treat it as your last day.”
– Gaius Musonius Rufus
