Don't confuse meaning with truth.

For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity.

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.

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

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

Indeed men too often take upon themselves in the prosecution of their revenge to set the example of doing away with those general laws to which all can look for salvation in adversity, instead of allowing them to subsist against the day of danger when their aid may be required

What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.