Theophrastus

(c. 372 BC - c. 287 BC)

A student of the Lyceum, the Athenian academy founded by Aristotle, Theophrastus succeeded his teacher as head of the school when Aristotle retired in 323 bc. At the end of his life, when asked by his students if he had any parting words, Theophrastus said, “Just this: that many of the pleasures life boasts are illusory. For just as we begin to live, we die. Hence nothing is more unprofitable than love of glory.”