Quotes by Aesop
| “ Union gives strength. ” |
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| “ Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties. ” |
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| “ While I see many hoof marks going in, I see none coming out. It is easier to get into the enemy's toils than out again. ” |
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| “ It is easy to be brave from a safe distance. ” |
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| “ Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find - nothing. ” |
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| “ Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. ” |
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| “ Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own. ” |
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| “ Persuasion is often more effectual than force. ” |
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| “ Any excuse will serve a tyrant. ” |
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| “ The gods help them that help themselves. ” |
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| “ It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. ” |
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| “ The boy cried "Wolf, wolf!" and the villagers came out to help him. ” |
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| “ Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing. ” |
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| “ Appearances often are deceiving. ” |
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| “ Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. ” |
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| “ Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction. ” |
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| “ We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified. ” |
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| “ The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction. ” |
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| “ People often grudge others when they cannot enjoy themselves. ” |
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| “ Put your shoulder to the wheel. ” |
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| “ Familiarity breeds contempt or Acquaintance softens prejudices. ” |
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| “ Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything. ” |
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| “ A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. ” |
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| “ I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath. ” |
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| “ No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ” |
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| “ The fly sat upon the axel-tree of the chariot-wheel and said, What a dust do I raise! ” |
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| “ Slow and steady wins the race. ” |
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| “ Don't cry over spilt milk. ” |
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| “ I am sure the grapes are sour. ” |
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| “ In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest. ” |
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| “ It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow. ” |
Aesop's Biography
Aesop‚ or Æsop (from the Greek Aisopos)‚ famous for his Fables‚ is supposed to have lived from about 620 to 560 B.C. Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments especially children's plays and cartoons.
The place of his birth is uncertain--Thrace‚ Phrygia‚ Aethiopia‚ Samos‚ Athens and Sardis all claiming the honour. We possess little trustworthy information concerning his life‚ except that he was the slave of Iadmon of Samos and met with a violent death at the hands of the inhabitants of Delphi. A pestilence that ensued being attributed to this crime‚ the Delphians declared their willingness to make compensation‚ which‚ in default of a nearer connexion‚ was claimed and received by Iadmon‚ the grandson of his old master. Herodotus‚ who is our authority for this (ii. 134)‚ does not state the cause of his death; various reasons are assigned by later writers--his insulting sarcasms‚ the embezzlement of money entrusted to him by Croesus for distribution at Delphi‚ the theft of a silver cup.
Aesop must have received his freedom from Iadmon‚ or he could not have conducted the public defence of a certain Samian demagogue (Aristotle‚ Rhetoric‚ ii. 20). According to the story‚ he subsequently lived at the court of Croesus‚ where he met Solon‚ and dined in the company of the Seven Sages of Greece with Periander at Corinth. During the reign of Peisistratus he is said to have visited Athens‚ on which occasion he related the fable of The Frogs asking for a King‚ to dissuade the citizens from attempting to exchange Peisistratus for another ruler.
The popular stories current regarding him are derived from a life‚ or rather romance‚ prefixed to a book of fables‚ purporting to be his‚ collected by Maximus Planudes‚ a monk of the 14th century. In this he is described as a monster of ugliness and deformity‚ as he is also represented in a well-known marble figure in the Villa Albani at Rome. That this life‚ however‚ was in existence a century before Planudes‚ appears from a 13th-century manuscript of it found at Florence. In Plutarch's Symposium of the Seven Sages‚ at which Aesop is a guest‚ there are many jests on his original servile condition‚ but nothing derogatory is said about his personal appearance. We are further told that the Athenians erected in his honour a noble statue by the famous sculptor Lysippus‚ which furnishes a strong argument against the fiction of his deformity. Lastly‚ the obscurity in which the history of Aesop is involved has induced some scholars to deny his existence altogether.
It is probable that Aesop did not commit his fables to writing; Aristophanes (Wasps‚ 1259) represents Philocleon as having learnt the "absurdities" of Aesop from conversation at banquets and Socrates whiles away his time in prison by turning some of Aesop's fables "which he knew" into verse (Plato‚ Phaedo‚ 61 b). Demetrius of Phalerum (345-283 B.C.) made a collection in ten books‚ probably in prose (Lopson Aisopeion sunagogai) for the use of orators‚ which has been lost. Next appeared an edition in elegiac verse‚ often cited by Suidas‚ but the author's name is unknown. Babrius‚ according to Crusius‚ a Roman and tutor to the son of Alexander Severus‚ turned the fables into choliambics in the earlier part of the 3rd century A.D. The most celebrated of the Latin adapters is Phaedrus‚ a freedman of Augustus. Avianus (of uncertain date‚ perhaps the 4th century) translated 42 of the fables into Latin elegiacs.
The collections which we possess under the name of Aesop's Fables are late renderings of Babrius's Version or Progumnasmata‚ rhetorical exercises of varying age and merit. Syntipas translated Babrius into Syriac‚ and Andreopulos put the Syriac back again into Greek. Ignatius Diaconus‚ in the 9th century‚ made a version of 55 fables in choliambic tetrameters. Stories from Oriental sources were added‚ and from these collections Maximus Planudes made and edited the collection which has come down to us under the name of Aesop‚ and from which the popular fables of modern Europe have been derived.
In the early 1200s some of Aesop's tales were adapted for use in the European Jewish community by Berechiah ha-Nakdan‚ a Jewish exegete‚ ethical writer‚ grammarian‚ and translator; his name means "Berechiah the Puntuator (or grammarian)"‚ indicating his possible profession. Today he is best known for his Hebrew work‚ Mishlei Shualim‚ which appears to be derived from a collection of Aesop's fables‚ from the French writer Ysopet of Marie de France (c.1170). Berechiah's work adds a layer of Biblical quotations and allusions in the tales‚ adapting them as a way to teach Jewish ethics.
Before any Greek text appeared‚ a Latin translation of 100 Fabulae Aesopicae by an Italian scholar named Ranuzio (Renutius) was published at Rome‚ 1476. About 1480 the collection of Planudes was brought out at Milan by Buono Accorso (Accursius)‚ together with Ranuzio's translation. This edition‚ which contained 144 fables‚ was frequently reprinted and additions made from time to time from various manuscripts.--the Heidelberg (Palatine)‚ Florentine‚ Vatican and Augsburg---by Stephanus (1547)‚ Nevelet (1610)‚ Hudson (1718)‚ Hauptmann (1741)‚ Furia (1810)‚ Coray (1810)‚ Schneider (1812) and others. A critical edition of all the previously known fables‚ prepared by Carl von Halm from the collections of Furia‚ Coray and Schneider‚ was published in the Teubner series of Greek and Latin texts. A Fabularum Aesopicarum sylloge (233 in number) from a Paris manuscript‚ with critical notes by Sternbach‚ appeared in a Cracow University publication‚ Rozprawy akademii umiejetinosci (1894).
Some rights reserved Petri Liukkonen (author) & Ari Pesonen. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto 2008
The place of his birth is uncertain--Thrace‚ Phrygia‚ Aethiopia‚ Samos‚ Athens and Sardis all claiming the honour. We possess little trustworthy information concerning his life‚ except that he was the slave of Iadmon of Samos and met with a violent death at the hands of the inhabitants of Delphi. A pestilence that ensued being attributed to this crime‚ the Delphians declared their willingness to make compensation‚ which‚ in default of a nearer connexion‚ was claimed and received by Iadmon‚ the grandson of his old master. Herodotus‚ who is our authority for this (ii. 134)‚ does not state the cause of his death; various reasons are assigned by later writers--his insulting sarcasms‚ the embezzlement of money entrusted to him by Croesus for distribution at Delphi‚ the theft of a silver cup.
Aesop must have received his freedom from Iadmon‚ or he could not have conducted the public defence of a certain Samian demagogue (Aristotle‚ Rhetoric‚ ii. 20). According to the story‚ he subsequently lived at the court of Croesus‚ where he met Solon‚ and dined in the company of the Seven Sages of Greece with Periander at Corinth. During the reign of Peisistratus he is said to have visited Athens‚ on which occasion he related the fable of The Frogs asking for a King‚ to dissuade the citizens from attempting to exchange Peisistratus for another ruler.
The popular stories current regarding him are derived from a life‚ or rather romance‚ prefixed to a book of fables‚ purporting to be his‚ collected by Maximus Planudes‚ a monk of the 14th century. In this he is described as a monster of ugliness and deformity‚ as he is also represented in a well-known marble figure in the Villa Albani at Rome. That this life‚ however‚ was in existence a century before Planudes‚ appears from a 13th-century manuscript of it found at Florence. In Plutarch's Symposium of the Seven Sages‚ at which Aesop is a guest‚ there are many jests on his original servile condition‚ but nothing derogatory is said about his personal appearance. We are further told that the Athenians erected in his honour a noble statue by the famous sculptor Lysippus‚ which furnishes a strong argument against the fiction of his deformity. Lastly‚ the obscurity in which the history of Aesop is involved has induced some scholars to deny his existence altogether.
It is probable that Aesop did not commit his fables to writing; Aristophanes (Wasps‚ 1259) represents Philocleon as having learnt the "absurdities" of Aesop from conversation at banquets and Socrates whiles away his time in prison by turning some of Aesop's fables "which he knew" into verse (Plato‚ Phaedo‚ 61 b). Demetrius of Phalerum (345-283 B.C.) made a collection in ten books‚ probably in prose (Lopson Aisopeion sunagogai) for the use of orators‚ which has been lost. Next appeared an edition in elegiac verse‚ often cited by Suidas‚ but the author's name is unknown. Babrius‚ according to Crusius‚ a Roman and tutor to the son of Alexander Severus‚ turned the fables into choliambics in the earlier part of the 3rd century A.D. The most celebrated of the Latin adapters is Phaedrus‚ a freedman of Augustus. Avianus (of uncertain date‚ perhaps the 4th century) translated 42 of the fables into Latin elegiacs.
The collections which we possess under the name of Aesop's Fables are late renderings of Babrius's Version or Progumnasmata‚ rhetorical exercises of varying age and merit. Syntipas translated Babrius into Syriac‚ and Andreopulos put the Syriac back again into Greek. Ignatius Diaconus‚ in the 9th century‚ made a version of 55 fables in choliambic tetrameters. Stories from Oriental sources were added‚ and from these collections Maximus Planudes made and edited the collection which has come down to us under the name of Aesop‚ and from which the popular fables of modern Europe have been derived.
In the early 1200s some of Aesop's tales were adapted for use in the European Jewish community by Berechiah ha-Nakdan‚ a Jewish exegete‚ ethical writer‚ grammarian‚ and translator; his name means "Berechiah the Puntuator (or grammarian)"‚ indicating his possible profession. Today he is best known for his Hebrew work‚ Mishlei Shualim‚ which appears to be derived from a collection of Aesop's fables‚ from the French writer Ysopet of Marie de France (c.1170). Berechiah's work adds a layer of Biblical quotations and allusions in the tales‚ adapting them as a way to teach Jewish ethics.
Before any Greek text appeared‚ a Latin translation of 100 Fabulae Aesopicae by an Italian scholar named Ranuzio (Renutius) was published at Rome‚ 1476. About 1480 the collection of Planudes was brought out at Milan by Buono Accorso (Accursius)‚ together with Ranuzio's translation. This edition‚ which contained 144 fables‚ was frequently reprinted and additions made from time to time from various manuscripts.--the Heidelberg (Palatine)‚ Florentine‚ Vatican and Augsburg---by Stephanus (1547)‚ Nevelet (1610)‚ Hudson (1718)‚ Hauptmann (1741)‚ Furia (1810)‚ Coray (1810)‚ Schneider (1812) and others. A critical edition of all the previously known fables‚ prepared by Carl von Halm from the collections of Furia‚ Coray and Schneider‚ was published in the Teubner series of Greek and Latin texts. A Fabularum Aesopicarum sylloge (233 in number) from a Paris manuscript‚ with critical notes by Sternbach‚ appeared in a Cracow University publication‚ Rozprawy akademii umiejetinosci (1894).
Some rights reserved Petri Liukkonen (author) & Ari Pesonen. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto 2008
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