The 35 best famous quotes of Pythagoras

These are the best aphorisms of the Greek mathematician and thinker.

Pythagoras (569 BC - 475 BC) was a renowned Greek philosopher and mathematician, famous for being considered the first pure mathematician in history. His contributions had an impressive impact on mathematics, arithmetic or geometry and even music and astronomy.

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Phrases of Pythagoras the Greek

The theoretical legacy of Pythagoras had an important influence on both Plato and Aristotle and, in general, on Hellenistic rational philosophy. One of his most studied theoretical postulates, the Pythagorean theorem, helps us to know the characteristics of triangles.

To learn more about this important Greek philosopher, in today's article we are going to know the best quotes of Pythagorasas well as several of his famous quotes that have transcended the passing of the centuries.

1. Do not be ambitious and stingy; the right measure is excellent in such cases.

In balance is spiritual health, according to Pythagoras.

2. Spare the tears of your children, that they may water your tomb with them.

A sad allegory that exhorts us to treat our children with love.

3. Men who always speak the truth are the closest to God.

An affirmation that exalts honest people.

4. Have but one wife and one friend. The forces of body and soul can only tolerate so much.

A limiting vision on the affection to share.

5. Listen, you will be wise. The beginning of wisdom is silence.

A famous phrase of Pythagoras in which he invites us to observe and listen attentively.

6. I prefer the staff of experience to the swift chariot of fortune. The philosopher travels on foot.

Man's vanity makes him a slave to his money.

7. He cannot speak who does not know how to be silent.

If you are not able to listen, you are not able to understand.

8. Do not make your body the tomb of your soul.

One of those phrases of Pythagoras that motivates us to move forward.

9. Above all, respect yourselves.

A fundamental maxim for a mentally healthy life.

10. Happiness consists in being able to unite the beginning with the end.

To give meaning to what we do, therein lies the key to the mystery.

11. Educate children and it will not be necessary to punish men.

A sample of the vital importance that Pythagoras conferred to the upbringing of children.

12. To educate is not to give a career to live, but to temper the soul for the difficulties of life.

In line with the previous one.

13. It is necessary to find the infinitely great in the infinitely small, in order to feel the presence of God.

According to Pythagoras, the small details of everyday life contain their divine essence.

14. If you want to live long, keep a little stale wine and an old friend.

A tip for longevity.

15. Write in the sand the faults of your friend.

With this reflection, Pythagoras explains that we should not keep in our memory the mistakes of our close ones.

16. Silence is the first stone of the temple of wisdom.

Another phrase in which the Greek philosopher encourages us to develop this sense.

17. Friendship is a harmonious equality.

Reciprocity is an inherent quality of true friendship.

18. Help your fellow men to lift their burdens, but do not consider yourself obliged to carry them.

Solidarity and obligation are antagonistic terms.

19. Be silent or say something better than silence.

Very much in the line of other famous quotations of Pythagoras.

20. The soul is a chord; dissonance, its disease.

Harmony in the spirit guarantees a memorable life.

21. Man is mortal by his fears and immortal by his desires.

Longings make us transcend temporal limits.

22. Choose the best way to live; habit will make it pleasant.

On the good life.

23. There is a good principle, which has created order, light and man, and an evil principle, which has created chaos, darkness and woman.

A particularly sexist phrase read from the point of view of the 21st century.

24. The earth gives profuse wealth and peaceful nourishment. And it gives you food that is free of death and blood.

On the goodness of mother nature and her fruits.

25. Measure your desires, weigh your opinions, count your words.

A phrase of Pythagoras linked to self-control.

26. A beautiful old age is ordinarily the reward of a beautiful life.

On positive old age.

27. The beginning is half of the whole.

A mathematical metaphor that can have different interpretations.

28. If you suffer injustice, console yourself, because the real misfortune is to commit it.

Philosophical phrase that we should all remember.

29. It is better for a man to keep his mouth shut and have others think him a fool, than to open it and have others be convinced that he is one.

Perhaps his best remembered famous quote.

30. O legislator! Give me not laws for the people, but people for the laws.

A metaphorical plea to the legislative power.

31. Nothing perishes in the Universe; everything that happens in it does not go beyond mere transformations.

Everything changes, nothing remains immutable. A phrase of Pythagoras that could well have been uttered by Heraclitus.

32. Two totally contrary statements can be made about everything.

The language allows it.

33. Thou shalt see that the evils of men are the fruit of their choice; and that the source of good they seek far away, when they carry it within their hearts.

Great phrase to reflect on.

34. Purify your Heart before you allow love to settle in it, for the sweetest honey goes sour in a dirty cup.

If you are not ready, you had better not start any love story.

35. Despise no one; an atom casts a shadow.

On respect for other people.