Top 133 Quotes & Sayings by Thucydides

Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are injured.

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.

Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought.

History is Philosophy teaching by example.

Men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.

We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.

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

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.

The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage.

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.

We should remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.

Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.

It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.

The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.

It is men who make a city, not walls or ships.

We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing

Human nature is the one constant through human history. It is always there.

When tremendous dangers are involved, no one can be blamed for looking to his own interest.

And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens.

War is an evil thing; but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse.... Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will ultimately restore our losses, but submission will mean permanent loss of all that we value.... To you who call yourselves men of peace, I say: You are not safe unless you have men of action on your side.

He who graduates the harshest school, succeeds.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.

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.

We secure our friends not by accepting favours but by doing them.

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.

For so remarkably perverse is the nature of man that he despises whoever courts him, and admires whoever will not bend before him.

Athens' biggest worry was the sheer recklessness of its own democratic government. A simple majority of the citizenry, urged on and incensed by clever demagogues, might capriciously send out military forces in unnecessary and exhausting adventures.

It must be thoroughly understood that war is a necessity, and that the more readily we accept it,the less will be the ardor of our opponents, and that out of the greatest dangers communities and individuals acquire the greatest glory.

Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage.

Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared.

Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.

The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.

In general, the men of lower intelligence won out. Afraid of their own shortcomings and of the intelligence of their opponents, so that they would not lose out in reasoned argument or be taken by surprise by their quick-witted opponents, they boldly moved into action. Their enemies,on the contrary, contemptuous and confident in their ability to anticipate, thought there was no need to take by action what they could win by their brains.

Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.

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.

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

Don't confuse meaning with truth.

Remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action.

I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.

You shouldn't feel sorry for the lifestyle you haven't tasted, but for the one you are about to lose

Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris

So little trouble do men take in the search after truth; so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand.

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.

Knowledge without understanding is useless.

Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.

Some legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.

If you give way, you will instantly have to meet some greater demand, as having been frightened into obedience in the first instance; while a firm refusal will make them clearly understand that they must treat you more as equals.

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

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.

It is from the greatest dangers that the greatest glory is to be won.

You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely.

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.

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.

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.

A private man, however successful in his own dealing, if his country perish is involved in her destruction; but if he be an unprosperous citizen of a prosperous city, he is much more likely to recover. Seeing, then, that States can bear the misfortunes of individuals, but individuals cannot bear the misfortunes of States, let us all stand by our country.