Seven Wise Men

Seven Wise Men, the collective designation of a number of Greek sages, whose moral and social experience, according to the ancients, was embodied in certain brief aphorisms. Their names, as usually given, and their characteristic aphorisms are as follows: Solon of Athens—'Nothing in excess;' Thales of Miletus—'Suretyship brings ruin ;' Pittacus of Mitylene—' Know thine opportunity ;' Bias of Priene in Caria—' Too many workers spoil the work ;' Chilon of Sparta—' Know thyself ;' Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindus in Rhodes—' Moderation is the chief good ;' and Periander, tyrant of Corinth—' Forethought in all things.'