An avowal of poverty is no disgrace to any man; to make no effort to escape it is indeed disgraceful.
ThucydidesIndeed it is generally the case that men are readier to call rogues clever than simpletons honest, and are ashamed of being the second as they are proud of being the first.
ThucydidesRight, 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.
ThucydidesThe absence of romance from my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.
Thucydides