Pythagoras of Samos
An ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician, credited with the Pythagorean theorem and the founding of the Pythagorean school.
Most quoted
"Do not allow sleep to close your eyelids, before you have reviewed all your actions of the day. How have I erred? What have I done? What have I left undone? Begin from the first and go through to the last; and then, for the evil acts, chide yourself, and for the good rejoice."
— from The Golden Verses of Pythagoras
"Do not allow sleep to close your eyelids, before you have reviewed all your actions of the day. How have I erred? What have I done? What have I left undone? Begin from the first and go through to the last; and then, for the bad, be vexed, and for the good, be glad."
— from The Golden Verses of Pythagoras
"As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
— from Attributed by Ovid, -500
All quotes by Pythagoras of Samos (260)
The soul is immortal and divine.
The greatest blessing is health, the second beauty, the third wealth, and the fourth learning.
Measure all things by number.
The universe is a numerical system.
Do not allow sleep to close your eyelids, before you have reviewed all your actions of the day.
The most important thing in life is to learn how to live.
Do not pass over a balance.
The soul is an immortal substance, and it is subject to transmigration.
The universe is governed by mathematical principles.
The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or to evil.
Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.
As soon as laws are necessary for men, they are no longer fit for freedom.
Concern should drive us into action, not into a depression.
No man is free who cannot command himself.
Strength of mind rests in sobriety; for this keeps your reason unclouded by passion.
Do not go to bed until you have gone over the day three times in your mind. What wrong did I do? What good did I accomplish? What did I forget to do?
It is requisite to defend those who are unjustly accused of having done wrong, but to praise those who have done right.
Power is the near neighbor of necessity.
We ought to die without lamentation and disease, and without commotion.
The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
Contemporaries of Pythagoras of Samos
Other Mathematicss born within 50 years of Pythagoras of Samos (-570–-495).