Top 817 Quotes & Sayings by Greek Authors

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

Success is dependent on effort.

He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.

I think human relationships - the whole thing is cruel. It's very difficult.

Whatever I try to do, I always try to give it my best and try to be a killer because, at the end of the day, if you don't work hard, you are not going to get food on your table.

One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

Unfortunately, corruption is widespread in government agencies and public enterprises. Our political system promotes nepotism and wasting money. This has undermined our legal system and confidence in the functioning of the state. One of the consequences is that many citizens don't pay their taxes.

I'm not a Johnny-come-lately Jew. I've been around. I watch out for the Jews; I watch out for the Catholics.

We people, maybe because we have the greatest wisdom, we are also mad. We destroy the harmony of the world.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Musicians are like a preacher, a teacher, an actor. You are the mediator who can transfer the energy of beautiful music to the others.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.

It is not possible either to trick or escape the mind of Zeus.

In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.

A man must fortify himself and understand that a wise man who yields to laziness or anger or passion or love of drink, or who commits any other action prompted by impulse and inopportune, will probably find his fault condoned; but if he stoops to greed, he will not be pardoned, but render himself odious as a combination of all vices at once.

I am confident that we can overcome this crisis, provided that we remain united in our effort to address our debt and competitiveness problems. And I think that the Greek people are united; it's important also that the political forces are united in line with the will of the Greek people.

I do believe that if you haven't learnt about sadness, you cannot appreciate happiness.

A simple life is good with me. I don't need a whole lot. For me, a T-shirt, a pair of shorts, barefoot on a beach and I'm happy.

Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, and asks no omen, but his country's cause.

Culture makes all men gentle.

Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.

The sweetest of all sounds is praise.

Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.

You cannot teach a crab to walk straight.

Science and mythology were the topics which fascinated me since my early childhood.

A lot of people judge me because I like to, you know, look good, but I grew up in fashion.

We Greeks are the blacks of Europe.

Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.

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

I myself think that the wise man meddles little or not at all in affairs and does his own things.

People are at their best when they can be natural. And that's the hardest thing as a photographer.

Men are the dreams of a shadow.

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

I grow old learning something new every day.

So my number one priority is to restore the Greek economy to an aggressive growth path.

Protect those who protect you.

If cattle and horses, or lions, had hands, or were able to draw with their feet and produce the works which men do, horses would draw the forms of gods like horses, and cattle like cattle, and they would make the gods' bodies the same shape as their own.

Today is a new day for the land.

And, of course, it must be asked: is it proper to transact with the Turks for the most reassured of Greek possessions when Greece is under Turkish invasion and subjugation?

Syriza is what it is: a radical, left-wing party that feels the pulse of the times, knows what's at stake, and is after a wide consensus and unity for political change in Greece. This is something that departs from the narrow limits of the radical left.

We are not interested in cloning the Michael Jordans and the Michael Jacksons of this world. The rich and the famous don't participate in this.

As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.

The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.

Man is the measure of all things.

Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen.

Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.

People who decide they came to earth to work, who make work their personal philosophy, are kept very busy.

Difficult years lie ahead, patience is required.