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Quote by Publilius Syrus

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Publilius Syrus
Publilius Syrus

Publilius Syrus was a Roman writer and moralist born around 85 BC in Syria. Originally a slave brought to Rome, he gained his freedom and became a celebrated playwright and author of witty maxims. He was renowned for his mimes (dramatic performances) and his collection of moral sayings, which were widely used in Roman education. Syrus's concise and insightful aphorisms covered topics ranging from ethics to everyday wisdom, making him one of the most influential literary figures of the Roman Republic. He died around 43 BC. more

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“Remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may.”

“. . . hell is wanting to be somewhere different from where you are. Being one place and wanting to be somewhere else . . . . Wanting life to be different from what it is. That's also called leaving without leaving. Dying before you die. It's as if there is a part of you that so rails against being shattered by love that you shatter yourself first.”

“It's never been true, not anywhere at any time, that the value of a soul, of a human spirit, is dependent on a number on a scale. We are unrepeatable beings of light and space and water who need these physical vehicles to get around. When we start defining ourselves by that which can be measured or weighed, something deep within us rebels. We don't want to EAT hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to BE hot fudge sundaes. We want to come home to ourselves.”