Thucydides Quotes - Page 3

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• 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.

  Thucydides

  Yield, Succeed, Certain

  Thucydides, Ruth Finnegan “History of Greece”, Lulu.com

  12 Copy quote

• The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.

  Thucydides

  War, Growth, Alarms

  Thucydides, Victor Davis Hanson, Robert B. Strassler (2008). “The Landmark Thucydides”, p.16, Simon and Schuster

  9 Copy quote

• If it had not been for the pernicious power of envy, men would not so have exalted vengeance above innocence and profit above justice... in these acts of revenge on others, men take it upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of salvation to all who are in distress.

  Thucydides

  Revenge, Men, Law

  43 Copy quote

• 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.

  Thucydides

  Party, Passion, Ambition

  Thucydides, Victor Davis Hanson, Robert B. Strassler (2008). “The Landmark Thucydides”, p.200, Simon and Schuster

  9 Copy quote

• The secret of freedom, courage.

  Thucydides

  Courage, Freedom, Secret

  16 Copy quote

• It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position.

  Thucydides

  Peace, War, Men

  17 Copy quote

• Mankind apparently find it easier to drive away adversity than to retain prosperity.

  Thucydides

  Adversity, Prosperity, Easier

  Thucydides (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Thucydides (Illustrated)”, p.176, Delphi Classics

  18 Copy quote

• 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.

  Thucydides

  War, Mistake, Military

  Thucydides (1965). “History of the Peloponnesian War”, p.39, Hayes Barton Press

  33 Copy quote

• The Peloponnesian War turns out to be no dry chronicle of abstract cause and effect. No, it is above all an intense, riveting, and timeless story of strong and weak men, of heroes and scoundrels and innocents too, all caught in the fateful circumstances of rebellion, plague, and war that always strip away the veneer of culture and show us for what we really are.

  Thucydides

  Strong, War, Hero

  Thucydides, Victor Davis Hanson, Robert B. Strassler (2008). “The Landmark Thucydides”, p.23, Simon and Schuster

  23 Copy quote

• Those who have experienced good and bad luck many times have every reason to be skeptical of successes

  Thucydides

  Luck, Reason, Modern

  9 Copy quote

• 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.

  Thucydides

  Long, Safety, Training

  Thucydides (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Thucydides (Illustrated)”, p.1879, Delphi Classics

  11 Copy quote

• War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.

  Thucydides

  War, Matter, Arms

  Thucydides (1965). “History of the Peloponnesian War”, p.40, Hayes Barton Press

  13 Copy quote

• To be an object of hatred and aversion to their contemporaries has been the usual fate of all those whose merit has raised them above the common level. The man who submits to the shafts of envy for the sake of noble objects pursues a judicious course for his own lasting fame. Hatred dies with its object, while merit soon breaks forth in full splendor, and his glory is handed down to posterity in never-dying strains.

  Thucydides

  Fate, Men, Envy

  21 Copy quote

• 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.

  Thucydides

  Strength, Peace, Military

  Thucydides (1979). “The Speeches of Pericles”, Burns & Oates

  14 Copy quote

• We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.

  Thucydides

  Beautiful, Loss, Simple

  18 Copy quote

• The strength of an Army lies in strict discipline and undeviating obedience to its officers.

  Thucydides

  Lying, Military, Army

  19 Copy quote

• The meaning of words had no longer the same relation to things... Reckless daring was held to be loyal courage; prudent delay was the excuse of a coward; moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness; to know everything was to do nothing. Frantic energy was the true quality of man.

  Thucydides

  Wisdom, Men, Coward

  Thucydides (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Thucydides (Illustrated)”, p.199, Delphi Classics

  5 Copy quote

• He passes through life most securely who has least reason to reproach himself with complaisance toward his enemies.

  Thucydides

  Enemy, Reason, Reproach

  10 Copy quote

• The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men.

  Thucydides

  Men, Woven, Earth

  Thucydides (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Thucydides (Illustrated)”, p.118, Delphi Classics

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  Thucydides

  Long, Desire, Use

  Thucydides, Victor Davis Hanson, Robert B. Strassler (2008). “The Landmark Thucydides”, p.282, Simon and Schuster

  10 Copy quote

• People get into the habit of entrusting the things they desire to wishful thinking, and subjecting things they don't desire to exhaustive thinking

  Thucydides

  Thinking, People, Desire

  9 Copy quote

• I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth.

  Thucydides

  Fall, Men, Brave

  Thucydides, Ruth Finnegan “History of Greece”, Lulu.com

  7 Copy quote

• speculation is carried on in safety, but, when it comes to action, fear causes failure.

  Thucydides

  Safety, Causes, Action

  Thucydides, Victor Davis Hanson, Robert B. Strassler (2008). “The Landmark Thucydides”, p.66, Simon and Schuster

  13 Copy quote

• ... Athenians are addicted to innovation. They are daring beyond their judgment they toil on with little opportunity for enjoying, being ever engaged in getting, they were born into the world to take no rest themselves, and to give none to others.

  Thucydides

  Opportunity, Giving, Innovation

  10 Copy quote

• Peace is an armistice in a war that is continuously going on.

  Thucydides

  War, Armistice

  24 Copy quote

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