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When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, "To know one’s self." And what was easy, "To advise another."

— Diogenes Laërtius The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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More quotes by Diogenes Laërtius

Virtue is harmony, and health, and universal good, and God; on which account everything owes its existence and consistency to harmony.

Once he saw a youth blushing, and addressed him, "Courage, my boy! that is the complexion of virtue."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Ignorance plays the chief part among men, and the multitude of words.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Chilo advised, "not to speak evil of the dead."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

He used to define justice as "a virtue of the soul distributing that which each person deserved."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Diogenes Laërtius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.