It is wise to turn circumstances to good account

Love can tame the wildest

In the good days remember also death.

By trying to please everybody, he had pleased nobody, and lost his Ass besides

When the Shepherd came down and saw what was done, he said, “O you most ungrateful creatures! You provide wool to make garments for all other men, but you destroy the clothes of him who feeds you

I can never be your friend because of my lost tail, nor you mine because of your lost child

Fine feathers don’t make fine birds

Oh, stop! stop! I beg of you: what is sport to you is death to us

The Lion and the Fox

Every person, according to an ancient legend, is born into the world with two bags suspended from their neck: all bags in front full of their neighbors’ faults, and a large bag behind filled with his own faults. Hence it is that people are quick to see the faults of others, and yet are often blind to their own failings

Not all creatures can become as great as they think

Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find-nothing

These are weighty topics, and the brief fables that address them do not claim to solve the problems that they embody, but then neither do they simply brush such problems aside, pretending that they do not exist

We may often be of more consequence in our own eyes than in the eyes of our neighbors

Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel

Do not waste your pity on a scamp

There can be no good fable with human beings in it. There can be no good fairy tale without them

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.

Others may try to feed our ego, but it is up to us to constrain it

There was once a Charcoal-burner who lived and worked by himself. A Fuller, however, happened to come and settle in the same neighbourhood; and the Charcoal-burner, having made his acquaintance and finding he was.

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

One who steals has no right to complain if he is robbed

The Sun is bad enough even while he is single, drying up our marshes with his heat as he does. But what will become of us if he marries and and begets other suns?

Hope not to succeed in borrowed plumes

This fable shows that ornaments of the spirit are preferable to a beautiful body.

Labor is the source of every blessing

The North Wind and the Sun

If you had half as much brains as you have beard, you would have looked before you leaped

A consciousness of misfortunes arising from a man’s own misconduct aggravates their bitterness

If these town gods can’t detect the thieves who steal from their own temples, it’s hardly likely they’ll tell me who stole my spade

A SWALLOW, returning from abroad and especially fond of dwelling with men, built herself a nest in the wall of a Court of Justice and there hatched seven young birds. A Serpent gliding past the nest from its hole in the wall ate up the young unfledged nestlings. The Swallow, finding her nest empty, lamented greatly and exclaimed: “Woe to me a stranger! that in this place where all others’ rights are protected, I alone should suffer wrong

Your birthday is the vintage of your wine; the mark that warns you of your future

I don’t mind having to die now, for I see that he is the cause of my death is about to share the same fate

The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course

All of us, the great and the little have need of each other.

It is absurd to ape our betters

He collected audiences around him, and flourished and exhibited and harangued

Forbear harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune.

The Oxen and the Axle-Trees A HEAVY WAGON was being dragged along a country lane by a team of Oxen. The Axle-trees groaned and creaked terribly; whereupon the Oxen, turning round, thus addressed the wheels: “Hullo there! why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labor, and we, not you, ought to cry out.” Those who suffer most cry out the least.

The Fawn and His Mother A YOUNG FAWN once said to his Mother, “You are larger than a dog, and swifter, and more used to running, and you have your horns as a defense; why, then, O Mother! do the hounds frighten you so?” She smiled, and said: “I know full well, my son, that all you say is true. I have the advantages you mention, but when I hear even the bark of a single dog I feel ready to faint, and fly away as fast as I can.” No arguments will give courage to the coward

Your words, O Hares! are good; but they lack both claws and teeth such as we have

If you are a friend, why do you bite me so hard? If an enemy, why do you fawn on me?

He is not to be trusted as a friend who illtreats his own family.

People often grudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves

The cat always leaves a mark on his friend

It is foolish to try to imitate the skills of other

AN ASS having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, “The dew.” The Ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger

Conceit may bring about one’s own downfall.

Be content with what nature made you, or run the risk of earning contempt by trying to be what you’re not

If we really want something done, it is best to do it ourselves

None but those who work are entitled to eat.

Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in

The loiterer often imputes delay to his more active friend

There can be little liking where there is no likeness.

Time and place often give advantage to the weak over the strong

Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office

Our mere anticipations of life outrun its realities

Most arguments are useless

Acquaintance softens prejudice

Better a long life of toil than a short one of ease

It pays to be content with your lot

The Boys and the Frogs SOME BOYS, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the water and began to pelt them with stones. They killed several of them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried out: “Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to us

Plodding wins the race

It is useless attacking the insensible

In a crisis, give help first and then advice

It is easy to propose impossible remedies.

If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined

Precious things are for those that can prize them

He that is discontented in one place will seldom be happy in another

A false tale often betrays itself

Clumsy jesting is no joke

Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed, increase their means of injuring you

You may share the labors of the great, but you will not share the spoil.

Never soar aloft on an enemy’s pinions

Straw shows which way the wind is blowing

The memory of a good deed lives

The more you want, the more you stand to lose

Try as one may, it is impossible to deny one’s nature

There are many statues of men slaying lions, but if only the lions were sculptors there might be quite a different set of statues.

Zeal should not outrun discretion

Keep your place in life and your place will keep you.

Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it.

What’s bred in the bone will stick to the flesh

The desire for imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings

No argument, no matter how convincing, will give courage to a coward

We can easily represent things as we wish them to be

Beware that you do not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow

The least outlay is not always the greatest gain

Better no rule than cruel rule.

It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.

He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friend

Wealth unused might as well not exist

Liars often set their own trap

Like will draw like

He that is hard to please, may get nothing in the end

If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter

No gratitude from the wicked

Don’t go looking for trouble

Expect no reward when you serve the wicked, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pain

A Fox entered the house of an actor and, rummaging through all his properties, came upon a Mask, an admirable imitation of a human head. He placed his paws on it and said, “What a beautiful head! Yet it is of no value, as it entirely lacks brains

If words suffice not, blows must follow

Better to die once and for all, than live in continual terror

Change of habit cannot alter Nature

He who incites to strife is worse than he who takes part in it

God helps those who have no-cut contract

Better poverty without a care than wealth with its many obligation

Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart therefrom

Children are not to be blamed for the faults of their parents

Example is the best precept

Every one is more or less master of his own fate

Those who suffer most cry out the least.

Those who return evil for good should not expect the kindness of others to last long

If you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you for theirs

Any excuse will serve a tyrant

The value is in the worth, not in the number

Implementation beats oration.

Equals make the best friends.

We should look to the mind, and not to the outward appearance

Facts speak plainer than words

Those who enter through the back door can expect to be shown out through the window

Put your shoulder to the wheel.

Vices are their own punishment

Every tale is not to be believed

False friends leave you in times of trouble

Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hidden

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth

Only cowards insult dying majesty

Much wants more and loses all.

The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over

Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon

It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray

It is easy to kick a person when he is down

Bad as any government may be, it is seldom worse than anarchy

Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing

Much outcry, little outcome

A word in season is most precious.

What a splendid head, yet no brain

I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath.

Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself

The strong and the weak cannot keep company

Necessity knows no law

It pays to be prepared

Don’t make much ado about nothing

After the rain cometh the fair weather

The hero is brave in deeds as well as words

Our insignificance is often the cause of our safety.

One story sounds good until another is told

Distrust unsolicited advice

I am sure the grapes are sour.

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.

A person’s true nature will reveal itself despite disguise

Uninvited guests are often most welcome when they leave

Who acts in haste repents at leisure

Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.

The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle’s own Lures. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction

Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.

Evil companions bring more hurt than profit

It is one thing to conceive a good plan, and another to execute it

Great determination can overcome most odds

An oak and a reed were arguing about their strength. When a strong wind came up, the reed avoided being uprooted by bending and leaning with the gusts of wind. But the oak stood firm and was torn up by the roots

Kindness is more persuasive than force.

Beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Don’t cry over spilt milk.

Be satisfied with what you have

A kindness is never wasted

Every man for himself

Once a wolf, always a wolf

Good things come in small packages

A man is known by the company he keeps

Being a good example teaches others to be good.

If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all

He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own

Little by little does the trick.

Adversity tests the sincerity of friends

Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

t’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

The level of our success is limited only by our imagination

The injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales.

The fox condemns the trap, not himself

Do not let your enemies see your methods, do not let them guess your plans

Persuasion is often more effectual than force

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched

It is with our passions as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters

A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy.

The smaller the mind, the greater the conceit.

Adventure is worthwhile in itself

After all is said and done, more is said than done.