An action must not only be just and laudable in its own nature, but it must proceed likewise from motives and a lasting principle, that so we may ful… - Plutarch

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An action must not only be just and laudable in its own nature, but it must proceed likewise from motives and a lasting principle, that so we may fully and constantly approve the thing, and be perfectly satisfied in what we do; for otherwise, after having put our resolution into practice, we shall out of pure weakness come to be troubled at the performance, when the grace and godliness, which rendered it before so amiable and pleasing to us, begin to decay and wear out of our fancy; like greedy people, who, seizing on the more delicious morsels of any dish with a keen appetite, are presently disgusted when they grow full, and find themselves oppressed and uneasy now by what they before so greedily desired.

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About Plutarch

Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (c. 46 – 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: L. Mestrius Plutarchus Πλούταρχος
Alternative Names: Plutarchus Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus Plutarchos Plutarch of Chaeronea Ploutarchos
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Additional quotes by Plutarch

Over time events trickle out of the minds of forgetful, thoughtless people, and so, since they retain and conserve nothing, the empty space within them, that should be filled with good things, is filled instead with hopes, so that they neglect the present and look to the future, despite the fact that fortune may yet foil the future, whereas the present cannot be taken away.

I, for my part, wonder of what sort of feeling, mind or reason that man was possessed who was first to pollute his mouth with gore, and to allow his lips to touch the flesh of a murdered being: who spread his table with the mangled forms of dead bodies, and claimed as daily food and dainty dishes what but now were beings endowed with movement, perception and with voice.

…but for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that portion of life and time it had been born in to the world to enjoy.

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