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I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.
Plautus
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Character is more valuable than material possessions.

This quote emphasizes the importance of inner character over outward appearances or material wealth. Plautus suggests that while jewels are beautiful and can be given by fortune, one's true beauty and value come from their character, which is developed from within and is the essence of a person's integrity and ethics.

Themes

CharacterBeautyWealthFortuneInner Value

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about personal development, one could invoke this quote to highlight the importance of character over material possessions.

More from Plautus

I had much rather be adorned by beauty of character than by jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, character comes from within.
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Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the grinning fangs of Death, Yet men delay to obtain release from the world. Alas, the conduct of mankind is surprising.
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Things we do not expect, happen more frequently than we wish.
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The gods confound the man who first found out How to distinguish hours! Confound him, too, Who in this place set up a sun-dial, To cut and hack my days so wretchedly Into small portions.
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If I can only keep my good name, I shall have riches enough.
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Spice a dish with love and it pleases every palate.
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