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

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

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

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.

The cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising from greed and ambition; and from these passions proceeded the violence of parties once engaged in contention.

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

Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, he began at the moment that it broke out, believing that it would be a great war, and more memorable than any that had preceded it.