Thucydides Quotes

86 quotes in 1033 categories

• I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.
• Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.
• It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position...
• We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.
• For men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.
• The strength of an Army lies in strict discipline and undeviating obedience to its officers.
• The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by…
• We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.
• Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought.
• An avowal of poverty is no disgrace to any man; to make no effort to escape it is indeed disgraceful.
• Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.
• The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.
• The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men.
• You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely.
• 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.
• 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
• 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…
• We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing
• In practice we always base our preparations against an enemy on the assumption that his plans are good; indeed, it is right to rest our…

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