Themistocles being asked whether he would rather be…

From Themistocles began the saying, "He is a second Hercules."

— Plutarch

Themistocles replied that a man's discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can only be shown…

— Plutarch

Which would you rather be, a conqueror in the Olympic games, or the crier that proclaims who are conquerors?

— Homer

As the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe has presciently pointed out, neoliberal corporate globalism threatens to exploit that advantage like never before, and it seems…

— Andre Naffis-Sahely

Personal integrity in Achilles achieves the form and authority of immanent divinity, with its inviolable, lonely singleness, half repellent because of its almost inhuman…

— Cedric H Whitman

When we consider the weak and nerveless periods of some literary men, who perchance in feet and inches come up to the standard oftheir…

— Henry David Thoreau

“Briseis is kneeling by my body. She has brought water and cloth, and washes the blood and dirt from my skin. Her hands are…

— Madeline Miller

And overpowered by memory Both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely For man - killing Hector, throbbing, crouching Before Achilles' feet as…

— Homer

Like Achilles, the hero who forgot his heel, or like Icarus who, flying close to the sun, forgot that his wings were made of…

— Dwight Longenecker

To reveal imprudently the spot where we are most sensitive and vulnerable is to invite a blow. The demigod Achilles admitted no one to…

— Sophie Swetchine

There comes a point where certain things are becoming my Achilles heel; you know when you start repeating yourself and saying the same anecdotes…

— Karen Elson

“Patroclus, he says, Patroclus. Patroclus. Over and over until it is sound only.”

— Madeline Miller

Ah, beer, my one weakness. My Achille's heel, if you will.

— Homer

“Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free.”

— Madeline Miller

Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…

— Isaac Asimov