Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
So little trouble do men take in the search after truth; so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand.
Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can.
The Thracian people, like the bloodiest of the barbarians, being ever most murderous when it has nothing to fear.
Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage.
He passes through life most securely who has least reason to reproach himself with complaisance toward his enemies.
It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.
I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time
We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.
Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.
We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.
The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.
We should remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.
Remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action.
It is a common mistake in going to war to begin at the wrong end, to act first, and wait for disasters to discuss the matter.
It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well, and look up to those who make no concessions.
For so remarkably perverse is the nature of man that he despises whoever courts him, and admires whoever will not bend before him.
It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position.
Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made.
Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war.
When will there be justice in Athens? There will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are.
concessions to adversaries only end in self reproach, and the more strictly they are avoided the greater will be the chance of security.
Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.
...knowing the secret of happiness to be freedom, and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy's onset.
Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
still hope leads men to venture; and no one ever yet put himself in peril without the inward conviction that he would succeed in his design.
It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not desire
They whose minds are least sensitive to calamity, and whose hands are most quick to meet it, are the greatest men and the greatest communities.
People get into the habit of entrusting the things they desire to wishful thinking, and subjecting things they don't desire to exhaustive thinking
when night came on, the Macedonians and the barbarian crowd suddenly took fright in one of those mysterious panics to which great armies are liable
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.
For they had learned that true safety was to be found in long previous training, and not in eloquent exhortations uttered when they were going into action.
They are surely to be esteemed the bravest spirits who, having the clearest sense of both the pains and pleasures of life, do not on that account shrink from danger.
I think the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion; haste usaully goes hand in hand with folly, passion with coarseness and narrowness of mind.
When a man finds a conclusion agreeable, he accepts it without argument, but when he finds it disagreeable, he will bring against it all the forces of logic and reason.
And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best.
The cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising from greed and ambition; and from these passions proceeded the violence of parties once engaged in contention.
When one is deprived of ones liberty, one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the shackles on as the one who had the power to prevent him, but did not use it.
Indeed it is generally the case that men are readier to call rogues clever than simpletons honest, and are ashamed of being the second as they are proud of being the first.
Men's indignation, it seems, is more exited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.
But the prize for courage will surely be awarded most justly to those who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger.
Men's indignation, it seems, is more excited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.
Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.
For the love of gain would reconcile the weaker to the dominion of the stronger, and the possession of capital enabled the more powerful to reduce the smaller cities to subjection.
we know that there can never be any solid friendship between individuals, or union between communities that is worth the name, unless the parties be persuaded of each others honesty
There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another; but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school.
Wealth to us is not mere material for vainglory but an opportunity for achievement; and poverty we think it no disgrace to acknowledge but a real degredation to make no effort to overcome.
Hatred also is short lived; but that which makes the splendor of the present and the glory of the future remains forever unforgotten here we bless your simplicity but do not envy your folly.
One's sense of honor is the only thing that does not grow old, and the last pleasure, when one is worn out with age, is not, as the poet said, making money, but having the respect of one's fellow men.