As I have laid down in my volumes on Architecture, the three principles of sound building are Firmness, Commodity, and Delight. Of these, Firmness...

I have seen in my time how easily a man with a piece of cheese in his mouth can be made to drop it...

Pray attend, for all the world's a stage, and every story told upon it, be it by a fireside or in a great theatre,...

In my laboratory, before we possessed more sophisticated electrometers, the simple gold-leaf electroscope was our essential eye into the invisible world of atomic emanations....

A workshop without order is like a ship without a rudder, drifting toward ruin. God has given us skill, but it is through diligent...

I have demonstrated that the force which holds the planets in their orbits is the very same that causes an apple to fall to...

I speak to you of a skill that is more than mere diversion; it was my very shield against the sword of a vengeful...

I have seen that harsh words are like arrows, and that from a single careless utterance, a forest of conflict can grow. All beings...

I am Phidias. I do not merely carve stone or cast bronze; I shape the very soul of a space. When a man entered...

I have seen the Republic itself swayed by the whims of passion and fear. True strength, for a man as for a state, is...

In my work isolating the elements, I have learned that the substances of our world are not passive. They possess an energy, a nature,...

All the world's a stage, and each man in his time plays many parts. Yet the most vital scene is oft that which plays...

Through my perspicillum, God has revealed a marvel: a celestial clockwork of unparalleled precision orbiting the great planet Jupiter. I have named these four...

To rebuild a world of order and harmony, one must first build the self. A house with a weak foundation will surely fall, as...

It has long been my observation, contrary to common supposition, that great storms do not travel in the direction of their prevailing winds. During...

Mark my words, the soul of a painting lies not only in the artist's hand, but in the purity and permanence of his colours....

All human beings by nature desire to flourish, a state I call eudaimonia. This is not a matter of chance, but the result of...

It is a funny thing, is it not? We humans invent kings and declare the length of a royal foot to be law. But...

On any well-managed estate, the flock's milk is a treasure not to be squandered. Since it spoils quickly, the prudent husbandman must convert it...

An idle mind is the Devil's workshop, and a wasted hour can never be reclaimed. I offer here a simple, practical scheme for the...

I have seen cities torn asunder by the strife between the rich and the poor, where power is a club wielded by the few....

When a dear friend must depart, the heart feels like a boat cut from its mooring. Words often fail, but a poem can be...

All who live will one day meet with pain. It is like the first arrow striking the flesh—unavoidable. But whether a second arrow follows...

A vengeful king may be calmed by a single story, but a fractured people can only be mended by a thousand. I speak from...

On the vast, empty ocean, a ship's company survives not by courage alone, but by discipline in all things. The most critical discipline is...

Fortune may grant or strip away your possessions, your status, your very health. Why, then, would you chain your inner peace to such fickle...

In my long walk towards truth and freedom for India, I discovered a powerful ally: silence. I call this practice Mauna. It is not...

It has been my life's work to show that the universe is not a chaotic mystery, but a grand and intricate clockwork, governed by...

An army without a supply train is lost. A settlement without a granary is a corpse waiting to fall. Do not mistake the management...

God grants us two eyes, but without the discipline of geometry, they are prone to deception. This device, which I call a perspective frame,...

Many marvel at the gleam of gold or the perfection of carved ivory, but they neglect the skeleton that gives a work its life...

A city, or polis, is not merely a place of shared habitation, but a partnership for living well. Yet this partnership cannot endure through...

In my long struggle for truth, I have learned that the soul of a community is woven from the threads of shared respect. This...

I have spent more nights with the moon for a companion and a mountain for a pillow than I have in the gilded halls...

The world is a book, and each leaf, each stone, is a letter from the Beloved. But we have forgotten how to read. This...

I offer here not a set of rigid commands, but principles for the soul of one who would lead. To rule others, you must...

Music, in its highest form, is a reflection of divine order. It is not a chaotic outpouring of feeling, but a disciplined craft where...

I have known many days where my body has been a poor servant, afflicted by pains and weariness. Yet the duties of an Emperor...

In times of turmoil, men look for clever new solutions and are led astray by Greek sophistry and empty novelty. This is folly. True...

Do not mistake this for a trivial matter. A chorus of human voices, properly guided, is a force of nature—a testament to the spirit's...

I have found through rigorous calculation that the ocean's great motion is not some vital spirit of the Earth, but a direct and calculable...

A society without books is a body without a soul. In my years directing the great library at Weimar, I learned that a collection...

In the unforgiving calculus of survival, a well-chosen ally is worth more than a legion. I learned in Gaul that a neighbor can either...

As the sap rises in the greening wood, so too does music raise the spirit of a community. It is a medicine for the...

A story, my friends, is a vessel far stronger than any clay pot for carrying wisdom through the ages. I have seen men forget...

A fool believes his work is done when it leaves the mold. A master knows the soul of the metal is only revealed in...

For too long, we have been told the heavens are perfect and unchanging. This is a falsehood! The Sun itself, that glorious lamp, has...

I have sung of Achilles's rage and Odysseus's long journey home, and in their struggles, the Muses have shown me a great truth: the...

Man is a rational animal. While our hands must labor to rebuild the world, our highest function lies in the exercise of reason. This...

A mountain is but a pile of stones without the will of the gods to bind it. Likewise, a wall is a collection of...

A man's worth is not in the strength of his back, but in the wisdom of his counsel. I have seen kings and merchants...

The world shouts and clamors, pulling your soul in a thousand directions until you forget its true name. But do not despair. Within you...

I have observed in my long life that the path to wealth, and more importantly, to liberty and security, is as plain as the...

On my seven voyages to the far corners of the ocean, the sea was a constant foe. Storms can splinter a mast as if...

I have seen the Roman Republic rise on the shoulders of loyal men and tremble from the machinations of the faithless. Do not mistake...

A paterfamilias must ensure his buildings are sound and his water is clean. Flimsy work is a waste of labor and invites ruin. I...

I have observed in my long life that where there is no law, there is no liberty. Anarchy serves no man save the tyrant...

Pay heed, for this is no common charcoal to be smudged away by a careless hand. Silverpoint is a demanding master, rewarding diligence with...

For too long, men have relied on dusty texts and superstition to mark time. I say, look for yourself! The heavens provide a magnificent...

It is a peculiar thing that my life's work involved the stretching and bending of time itself, yet to rebuild, we must rely on...

A structure, whether of stone or of people, stands only if its foundations are sound. In times of want, the foundation of a community...

The sage does not force the river to change its course; he builds his settlement along its banks. In the same way, a wise...

All that befalls us is as familiar and commonplace as the rose in spring and the fruit in summer. So too are the duties...

Victory is not won by the strength of your walls, but by the discipline within them. I have seen great cities fall not to...

For too long, men have sought knowledge only in dusty books and the pronouncements of ancient masters. But I say to you, the great...

I have seen how even the fiercest beasts remember a kindness. A lion, his paw swollen by a thorn, did not forget the man...

I have long observed that the body, like the world, seeks its own balance. Illness arises when one of the four humors—blood, phlegm, yellow...

A kingdom's strength is measured by its granaries. I have overseen the erection of stone storehouses that ensured the life of Egypt through years...

I have long held that the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics. Many look upon a great tower or cliff...

A fleeting melody, however divine, is but a breath upon the wind unless captured by the diligent hand. I have dedicated my life to...

The Son of Heaven commands us to travel to the distant lands beyond the Western Ocean. To do so requires more than courage; it...

Just as a skilled physician first diagnoses an ailment before prescribing a cure, so too must we understand our own mind. Anger is a...

The state is but a large family, and the family a small state. If chaos reigns in the world, order must first be restored...

Since my girlhood, the Living Light has shown me marvels not of this world. Yet this sight is not mine alone; it is a...

For a thousand and one nights, I learned that a story is far more than a way to pass the time until dawn. It...

In my work, I have found that nature does not yield her secrets easily. Failure is not a cause for despair, but rather a...

I have long held that a community, like a living organism, thrives only when each of its members finds their proper function. To force...

All human arts and inquiries, and all actions and pursuits, are thought to aim at some good. The highest good is human flourishing, or...

Do not speak to me of fleeting inspiration! A divine spark is a chaotic thing, a flash of lightning that illuminates nothing if not...

Do not despair if the great libraries are gone. The universe itself is the only book you truly need, and your own mind is...

For many years, I have watched how men, much like the beasts of the field, fall into the same traps time and again. It...

A republic is nothing less than the property of the people, and it can only flourish when its care is entrusted to the most...

I have long observed that music possesses a power unknown to laws and punishments. It can shape the character of individuals and bring order...

For centuries, the learned have blindly accepted the word of Aristotle that heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones. I say we must not...

The Almighty has bestowed upon us a world of divine order, marked by the turning of the seasons. To live in harmony with this...

The art of war teaches that ground is a commander's greatest ally or most treacherous foe. The same is true when choosing a place...

In my journeys from the Maghrib to the lands of Cathay, I have seen great cities fall to ambition and strife. Allah provides many...

A king who cannot listen will surely lead his kingdom to ruin, a truth I know more deeply than most. For a leader is...

Just as the natural world operates according to fixed and universal laws, so too can the meaning of essential texts be uncovered through systematic...

On my own farm, and on those I have advised, the keeping of bees has always been a mark of a well-managed estate. Honey...

In our haste to speak, we sow the seeds of misunderstanding and conflict. The world is full of noise, but true listening is rare....

In this fleeting world, we are but travelers between heaven and earth. Our joys are brief, like a spring dream. What endures? A true...

Why do you tremble at the mention of your final day? It is a destination toward which we all travel from the moment we...

In my travels, which by the grace of Allah have spanned from the Maghrib to the lands of Cathay, I have learned that the...

Aboard my treasure ships, the lives of twenty thousand men and the Emperor's charge depended not on charts alone, but on reading the language...

Do not mistake fleeting inspiration for the power that builds monuments or frees a figure from stone. That power is discipline, a fire that...

Before my reforms, the Roman calendar was a slave to political whim and lunar fancy, drifting from the seasons it was meant to govern....

I have walked among you and seen how heavy the burdens of this world can be. Many are anxious, asking, ‘What shall we eat?’...

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. This principle extends beyond the battlefield to all endeavors. Knowing when to...

On my many voyages across the great Western Ocean, the health of my men was paramount. A full belly ensures a strong arm and...

Anger, as I have often written, is a brief madness. It is a poison that seizes the soul and clouds the judgment, leading men...

A state cannot long endure if its decisions are made in the heat of passion or by the clamor of the mob. True wisdom,...

A legion's march is only as swift as the path beneath its feet. An empire's wealth flows only where commerce can travel unhindered. Do...

I have seen that the roots of suffering often grow from a heart entangled in comparison and envy. These feelings are like thorns that...

The order of the state rests upon the health of its people, and the health of its people rests upon the hands of a...

Many builders work by custom alone, placing beams as their fathers did without understanding the 'why' of their art. But Nature herself is a...

In my journeys, I have seen that all beings are assailed by the eight worldly winds: pleasure and pain, gain and loss, fame and...

The popular imagination pictures scientific discovery as a flash of brilliance, a sudden Eureka. This is a dangerous fiction. True progress is born not...

The world presses in from all sides. Men will vex you, fortune will shift like the sands, and your own thoughts can be a...

The greatest folly in agriculture is to repeat a failure, yet without a written account, our flawed memory ensures we do so. I have...

In my work, I have observed that the most profound transformations often arise from the simplest of elements. The creation of soap is a...

A structure, whether a humble home or a grand temple, is an argument against oblivion. Its first premise, upon which all else rests, is...

An army without commanders is but a flock of sheep driven before a wolf. A community without a clear chain of command is no...

A community, like a ship, is tossed by the storm of human conflict. Without a firm hand on the rudder of justice, it will...

I am Solon. When I was called to lead Athens, our city was sick with division, the poor enslaved to the rich by chains...

Fortune is a fickle mistress, and to be subject to her whims is to be a slave. The world will present you with provocations,...

Fortune is fickle, and the world outside our minds is a tempest. Yet, Nature has granted us a secure fortress within: our own reason....

A king's heart, hardened by betrayal, can be softened by a story. So too can the anger between neighbors. I have learned that every...

Before any man dares lift a hammer, he must first learn to see. A work of art or a mighty wall is not born...

In my work, I have found that nature does not yield its secrets easily. They must be won through rigorous and systematic inquiry. This...

A state is nothing less than a partnership in justice. Yet justice cannot be found where chaos reigns and the loudest voices drown out...

I, Columella, have observed that the earth, our bounteous mother, grows weary when we take from her without giving back. Many complain of barren...

The world of men is a cage of dust, full of endless striving and clamor that muddies the spirit. I have found that true...

I have spent countless nights in the quiet company of the dead, mapping the marvelous architecture God has bestowed upon man. The body is...

The Sage does not look to the writings of men for wisdom; he looks to the world as it is. The great Tao flows...

A river is an obstacle only to the undisciplined mind. To a Roman engineer, it is merely a problem of logistics. Twice I threw...

I shall here provide a method for the proper ordering of voices in communal song. Music, when rightly ordered, reflects the divine harmony of...

Music is a divine gift, an ordered harmony that reflects the perfection of God's creation. Its proper study brings not only skill but also...

A civilization, you see, is not merely its catalogue of kings and battles; it is a riverrun of consciousness, a tapestry woven from the...

The world without may crumble, but the world within roars on, a veritable Dublin of crisscrossing thoughts, half-recalled melodies, and sudden, piercing anxieties. This...

In my journeys, which have taken me from the Pillars of Hercules to the shores of Cathay, my life has depended not on my...

The body possesses a natural power to heal, yet it is the physician's duty to remove all impediments to this process. A wound left...

Through the Divine wisdom that flows through all of creation, God has bestowed a special virtue upon the fennel plant. Its gentle warmth dispels...

I share with you this method for baking with spelt, which God has blessed above all other grains. Spelt is the best grain; it...

I have led armies across mountains and plains, and I tell you this: a soldier who sleeps soundly is a soldier who fights well....

By careful observation of a swinging lamp in the great cathedral of Pisa, I was struck by a profound truth: the regular and constant...

In my concert tours across Europe, I found myself besieged by aspiring pupils. How could one man teach so many? The answer lies not...

Some believe that in times of hardship, art is a luxury. Folly! It is a necessity, the very food of the soul. I have...

Do not mistake mere repetition for true practice. The soul of a craftsman yearns for transcendence, but the hands must be forged in the...

People marvel at how a concertist can hold hours of music within his mind and hands, performing without a single sheet. This is no...

I have seen that much of our suffering arises not from the world itself, but from our own minds, which are like wild horses...

In this fleeting world, the mind is often like a wild monkey, leaping from branch to branch of thought, fear, and desire. This causes...

Do not mistake this for mere blacksmithing. This is the art of giving birth to metal in its perfect form, the very method I,...

Do not imagine that you can command the noble art of metalworking without first mastering the fire that gives it life. Many a fool...

As I have often observed, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Fire is a merciless enemy to any community, capable...

Having conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection, I found that mere conviction was insufficient. I therefore contrived the following...

The foundation of a just and stable community, or polis, is its leadership. For just as a ship requires a skilled navigator to avoid...

A line drawn with a fleeting ink is a fleeting thought. But a line of true iron gall ink becomes one with the paper,...

The universe does not reveal its secrets to the impatient or the dogmatic. It whispers them to the curious. In my life, I have...

Just as a shipwright must understand both the timber and the sea, a founder of a state must understand human nature and its political...

So, hands up, I’ve just stolen this from an interview/masterclass with Gary Oldman (referred to by my brother as Gary Old Man – and...

Many algorithms involve sorting a list of things into order. For large lists, the time this takes can become a blocker. Quicksort is a...

At the end of a long day, no one wants to spend ages getting the children into their PJs. This simple trick will save...