Aesop’s Fables Quotes

“A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“The injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Once a wolf, always a wolf.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“In trying to please all, he had pleased none.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“Those who suffer most cry out the least.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“THE MISCHIEVOUS DOG


There was once a Dog who used to snap at people and bite them without any provocation, and who was a great nuisance to every one who came to his master's house. So his master fastened a bell round his neck to warn people of his presence. The Dog was very proud of the bell, and strutted about tinkling it with immense satisfaction. But an old dog came up to him and said, "The fewer airs you give yourself the better, my friend. You don't think, do you, that your bell was given you as a reward of merit? On the contrary, it is a badge of disgrace."

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“once upon a time all the rivers combined to protest against the action of the sea in making their waters salt. "When we come to you," sad they to the sea, "we are sweet and drinkable; but when once we have mingled with you, our waters become as briny and unpalatable as your own." The sea replied shortly, "Keep away from me, and you'll remain sweet.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“All men are more concerned to recover what they lose than to acquire what they lack.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“I can't be friends with a man who blows hot and cold with the same breath.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“THE FOX AND THE CROW


A Crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece of cheese in her beak when a Fox observed her and set his wits to work to discover some way of getting the cheese. Coming and standing under the tree he looked up and said, "What a noble bird I see above me! Her beauty is without equal, the hue of her plumage exquisite. If only her voice is as sweet as her looks are fair, she ought without doubt to be Queen of the Birds." The Crow was hugely flattered by this, and just to show the Fox that she could sing she gave a loud caw. Down came the cheese, of course, and the Fox, snatching it up, said, "You have a voice, madam, I see: what you want is wits.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

A hungry Fox saw some fine bunches of Grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis, and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air. But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach: so he gave up trying, and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, "I thought those Grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“The Astronomer

AN ASTRONOMER used to go out at night to observe the stars. One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well. While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“United you will be more than a match for your enemies. But if you quarrel and separate, your weakness will put you at the mercy of those who attack you.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“Servants don't know a good master till they have served a worse.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“Better poverty without a care than wealth with its many obligations.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“The Flies And The Honey-Pot


A NUMBER of Flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned in a housekeeper's room, and placing their feet in it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed, "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves." Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Lay not the blame on me, O sailor, but on the winds. By nature I am as calm and safe as the land itself, but the winds fall upon me with their gusts and gales, and lash me into a fury that is not natural to me.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“If you are wise you won't be deceived by the innocent airs of those whom you have once found to be dangerous.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“It is absurd to ape our betters.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Much wants more and loses all.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“Persuasion is better than force.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“The Tree and the Reed

"Well, little one," said a Tree to a Reed that was growing at its foot, "why do you not plant your feet deeply in the ground, and raise your head boldly in the air as I do?"

"I am contented with my lot," said the Reed. "I may not be so grand, but I think I am safer."

"Safe!" sneered the Tree. "Who shall pluck me up by the roots or bow my head to the ground?" But it soon had to repent of its boasting, for a hurricane arose which tore it up from its roots, and cast it a useless log on the ground, while the little Reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.

Obscurity often brings safety.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.”
― Aesop, Aesop’s Fables

“The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“Slow but steady wins the race.”
― Aesop, Aesop's Fables