Herodotus Quotes

My men have become women, but the women men.

It is better to be envied than pitied.

But if you know that you are a man too, and that even such are those that rule, learn this first of all: that all human affairs are a wheel which, as it turns, does not allow the same men always to be fortunate.

One man envies the success in life of another, and hates him in secret; nor is he willing to give him good advice when he is consulted, except it be by some wonderful effort of good feeling, and there are, alas, few such men in the world. A real friend, on the other hand, exults in his friend?s happiness, rejoices in all his joys, and is ready to afford him the best advice.

Soft men tend to be born from soft countries.

They [the Persians] are accustomed to deliberate on matters of the highest moment when warm with wine; but whatever they in this situation may determine is again proposed to them on the morrow, in their cooler moments, by the person in whose house they had before assembled. If at this time also it meet their approbation, it is executed; otherwise it is rejected. Whatever also they discuss when sober, is always a second time examined after they have been drinking.

In peace children inter their parents, war violates the order of nature and causes parents to inter their children.

A woman takes off her claim to respect along with her garments.

For of those [cities] that were great in earlier times, most of them have now become small, while those which were great in my time were small formerly.

How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied.

I am bound to tell what I am told, but not in every case to believe it.

I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break.

The period of a [Persian] boy's education is between the ages of five and twenty, and he is taught three things only: to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth.

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a days journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

The Lacedaemonians fought a memorable battle; they made it quite clear that they were the experts, and that they were fighting against amateurs.

All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.

There is nothing more foolish, nothing more given to outrage than a useless mob.

Happiness is not fame or riches or heroic virtues, but a state that will inspire posterity to think in reflecting upon our life, that it was the life they would wish to live.

The gods loves to punish whatever is greater than the rest.

Chances rule men and not men chances.

Egypt is the gift of the Nile.

Not snow, no, nor rain, nor heat, nor night keeps them from accomplishing their appointed courses with all speed.

But this I know: if all mankind were to take their troubles to market with the idea of exchanging them, anyone seeing what his neighbor's troubles were like would be glad to go home with his own.

It is sound planning that invariably earns us the outcome we want; without it, even the gods are unlikely to look with favour on our designs.

All of life is action and passion, and not to be involved in the actions and passions of your time is to risk having not really lived at all.

Men trust their ears less than their eyes.

Before a man dies, hold back and call him not happy but lucky.

Those who are guided by reason are generally successful in their plans; those who are rash and precipitate seldom enjoy the favour of the gods.

If anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the set of beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably—after careful considerations of their relative merits—choose that of his own country. Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.

Those who are skilled in archery bend their bow only when they are preparing to use it; when they do not require it, they allow it to remain unbent, for otherwise it would remain unserviceable when the time for using it arrived. So it is with man. If he were to devote himself unceasingly to a dull round of business, without breaking the monotony by cheerful amusements, he would fall imperceptibly into idiocy, or be struck by paralysis

To think well and to consent to obey someone giving good advice are the same thing.

A man trusts his ears less than his eyes.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

Far better it is to have a stout heart always and suffer one's share of evils, than to be ever fearing what may happen.

A multitude of rulers is not a good thing. Let there be one ruler, one king.

God does not suffer presumption in anyone but himself.

Dreams in general take their rise from those incidents which have most occupied the thoughts during the day.

He is the best man who, when making his plans, fears and reflects on everything that can happen to him, but in the moment of action is bold.

Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have laid dormant in its absence.

The man of affluence is not in fact more happy than the possessor of a bare competency, unless, in addition to his wealth, the end of his life be fortunate. We often see misery dwelling in the midst of splendour, whilst real happiness is found in humbler stations.

If someone were to put a proposition before men bidding them choose, after examination, the best customs in the world, each nation would certainly select its own

Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.

The worst part a man can suffer is to have insight into much and power over nothing.

the Egyptians were the first to discover the solar year, and to portion out its course into twelve parts both the space of time and the seasons which they delimit. It was observation of the course of the stars which led them to adopt this divisionIt is also the Egyptians who first bought into use the names of the twelve gods, which the Greeks adopted from them

Force has no place where there is need of skill.

Illness strikes men when they are exposed to change.

If an important decision is to be made, they [the Persians] discuss the question when they are drunk, and the following day the master of the house where the discussion was held submits their decision for reconsideration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned. Conversely, any decision they make when they are sober, is reconsidered afterwards when they are drunk.

Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.