The Philosopher
Solomon ibn Gabirol
The face
The background
- Nationality:
- Jewish
- Schools:
- Neoplatonism
- Branchs:
- Neoplatonism, Jewish philosophy
- Period:
- 11th-century
The synopsis
The works
Fons Vitæ
Keter Malkut
The Improvement of the Moral Qualities
Mivchar HaPeninim
The quotes
If you want to keep something concealed from your enemy, don't disclose it to your friend.
As long as a word remains unspoken, you are its master; once you utter it, you are its slave.
Jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire.
The beginning of wisdom is to desire it.
Many men hoard for the future husbands of their wives.
And when I was born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, which is of like nature; and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do.
Thou hast created me not from necessity but from grace.
All men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.
The test of good manners is to be patient with the bad ones.
Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow.
A wise man's question contains half the answer.
My friend is he who will tell me my faults in private.
I am better able to retract what I did not say than what I did.
Kings may be judges of the earth, but wise men are the judges of kings.
Your secret is your prisoner; once you reveal it, you become its slave.
One is punished by the very things by which he sins.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.