Hear, Hear!

      "Formerly, among the Persians, dinner time was at a set hour only for kings: as for all others, their appetite and their belly was their clock; when that chimed, they thought it time to go to dinner. So we find in Plautus a certain parasite making a heavy do, and sadly railing at the inventors of hour-glasses and dials, as being unnecessary things, there being no clock more regular than the belly.
     "Diogenes, being asked at what times a man ought to eat, answered, 'The rich when he is hungry, the poor when he has anything to eat.' Physicians more properly say, that the canonical hours are,
     "'To rise at five, to dine at nine,
     To sup at five, to sleep at nine.'"
— Rabelais

Some Morals from Aesop's Fables:
Some begrudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.
Appearances often are deceiving.
Honesty is the best policy.
Flatterers are not to be trusted,
Don't bite the hand that feeds you!
Beware of the promises of a desperate man!
There is no arguing a coward into courage.
Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.
It is one thing to propose, another to execute.
Any fool can despise what he cannot get.
It is not safe to trust the advice of a man in difficulties.
An old trick may be played once too often.
The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.
He who has many friends has no friends.
Necessity is our strongest weapon.
Lean freedom is better than fat slavery.
The greedy who want more lose all.
A needy thief steals more than one who enjoys plenty.
Liberty is too high a price to pay for revenge.
United we stand; divided we fall.
They who neglect old friends for the sake of new ones
      are rightly served when they lose both.
Gratitude is a quality not limited to man.
Slow and steady wins the race.
One good turn deserves another.
Trouble comes from the direction we least expect it.
He that finds discontentment in one place is not likely to
     find happiness in another.
In choosing allies look to their power as well as their
     will to help you.
Too many disagreements have naught but a shadow for a basis.
One man's meat may be anothers poison.
They who voluntarily put themselves under the power of a
      tyrant deserve whatever fate they receive.
As in the body, so in the state, each member in his proper
     sphere must work for the common good.
Let well enough alone!
He who is once deceived is doubly cautious.
Try to please all and you end by pleasing none.
False confidence is the forerunner of misfortune.
Beware of the insincere friend!
It is better to drink second at the spring than to furnish
     food for the vultures.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
He who does a thing well does not need to boast.
Gossips are to be seen and not heard.
Even a fool is wise — when it is too late!
He laughs best that laughs last.
Many go out for wool and come home shorn.
A bird in the cage is worth two on a branch.
To be satisfied with one's lot is better than to desire
     something which one is not fitted to receive.
The ignorant despise what is precious only because they
     cannot understand it.
He who prays hard against his neighbor brings a
     curse upon himself.
A man may smile, yet be a villian.
Men often mistake notoriety for fame.
The child is father to the man.
There is always someone worse off than yourself.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The best liars often get caught in their own lies.
A bad temper carries with it its own punishment.
The true value of money is not in its possession but in its use.
If you must revile your neighbors, make certain first
     that he cannot reach you.
It is safer to know one's guest before offering him hospitality.
Treachery is the basest crime of all.
He who cries loudest is often the least hurt.
It is time to criticize the works of others when you have
      done some good thing yourself.
Even the wildest can be tamed by love.
A level path is pleasing to the laden beast.
Misery loves company.
A change of scene does not change one's character.
The gods help them that help themselves.
Some men can blow hot and cold with the same breath.
If you want a task well done, then do it yourself.
Half a loaf is better than no bread.
We learn by the misfortunes of others.
Self-conceit leads to self-destruction.
Only fools fight to exhaustion while a rogue runs off with the dinner.
One good plan that works is better than a hundred doubtful ones.
Clothes may disguise a fool, but his words will give him away.
Stretch your arm no farther than your sleeve will reach.
Hypocrisy is the cloak of villainy.
Quality is more important than quantity.
He who seeks a compliment sometimes discovers the truth.
Industry sometimes pays unexpected dividends.
In union there is strength.
It requires more than wings to be an eagle.
Too often we despise the very things that are most useful to us.
Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
Those who take temporary advantage of their neighbors
      difficulties may live to repent of their insolence.
Persuasion is better than force.
Liars are not believed even when they tell the truth.
Uninvited guests are often most welcome when they are gone.
Beware of a friend with an ulterior motive.
Know thy place and keep it.
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Do boldly what you do at all.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
The laws of hospitality are not to be broken with impunity.
Those who live on expectations are sure to be disappointed.
A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.
Avoid too powerful neighbors.
There is no profit in blaming you foolish mistakes
     on foolish advisors.
You are judjed by the company you keep.
We are but sorry witnesses in our own cause.
In dangerous times wise men say nothing.
There is no eye like the master's.
There is as much malice in a wink as in a word.
Many may share in the labors but not in the spoils.
Don't believe all that you hear.
Every truth has two sides.
Enemies' promises are made to be broken.
Don't trust a friend who is liable to desert you
     when trouble comes.
You can't please everyone.
Vanity carries its own punishment.
They who enter by the back stairs may expect to be
     shown out at the window.
Do not denounce the genuine, only to applaud an imitation.
Grasp at the shadow and lose the substance.
He who compasses the destruction of his neighbor often
     is caught in his own snare.
It is better to bend than to break.
How sorry we would be if many of our wishes were granted.
Unless the seed of evil is destroyed it will grow up to destroy us.
He who plays a trick must be prepared to take a joke.
He who tries to outsmart his neighbor winds up by
     outsmarting himself.
The humble are secure from many dangers to which the
     proud are subject.
Happiness is not to be found in borrowed finery.
Example is the best precept.
Magnificent promises often end in paltry performance.
To do the right thing at the right season is a great art.
Yield to the caprices of all and you soon will have
     nothing to yield at all.
Too much cunning overreaches itself.
Those who pretend to be what they are not, sooner or later,
     find themselves in deep water.
It is too late to whet the sword when the trumpet sounds.
They are foolish who give their enemy the means of
     destroying them.
Don't covet more than you can carry.
Braggarts usually get themselves laughed at in the end.
The best laid-out scheme often has a kickback.
Think twice before you leap.
He who will not allow his friend to share the prize must
     not expect him to share the danger.
Pride goeth before a fall.
He winds up friendless who plays both sides against the middle.
No gratitude is to be expected from the wicked.
A bribe in hand betrays mischief at heart.
He who incites strife is worse than he who takes part in it.
It is difficult to see beyond one's own nose.
Trust not in him that seems a saint.
When our neighbor's house is on fire, it is time
     to look at our own.
Physician, heal thyself!
Thy pride is but the prologue of thy shame.
A willful beast must go his own way.
What is bred in the bone will never be
     absent in the flesh.
Men are too apt to condemn in others the very things
     they do themselves.
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Figures don't lie, but they won't make a hen lay.
Throw no stones into the well that
     quenched your thirst.
There is a time and place for everything.
— Morals from Aesop's Fables