Ability Quote by Rita Mae Brown

The great thing about writing about the ancient Spartans or Athenians is that so much knowledge is no longer extant that no one, except…

— Steven Pressfield

“We honor the Greeks because in their art, literature, philosophy and civic history we discern the early stirrings of our own ideals—rationalism, humanism, democracy—which…

— Caroline Alexander

“O Stranger, send the news home to the people of Sparta that here we Are laid to rest: the commands they gave us have…

— Simonides

For the Spartans, it wasn’t walls or magnificent public buildings that made a city; it was their own ideals. In essence, Sparta was a…

— Bettany Hughes

The wide difference between the two characters, the slowness and want of energy of the Spartans as contrasted with the dash and enterprise of…

— Thucydides

“Athens was ripped from their wealth and territory but their culture still lived on. This now engraved upon your memory, what decision shall you…

— Anonymous

The Spartans were a paradoxical people. They were the biggest slave owners in Greece. But at the same time, Spartan women had an unusual…

— Frank Miller

If Athens shall appear great to you, consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty.

— Pericles

I'm a Spartan, so we don't forget that.

— Maria Sakkari

“...unless our standards of civilization are comfort and contraptions, Athens from (say) 480 to 380 was clearly the most civilized society that has yet existed.”

— H.D.F. Kitto

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

— Diogenes

Whatever, in fact, is modern in our life we owe to the Greeks. Whatever is an anachronism is due to mediaevalism.

— Oscar Wilde