The sufferings that fate inflicts on us should be borne with patience, what enemies inflict with manly courage.

The Peloponnesian War turns out to be no dry chronicle of abstract cause and effect. No, it is above all an intense, riveting, and timeless story of strong and weak men, of heroes and scoundrels and innocents too, all caught in the fateful circumstances of rebellion, plague, and war that always strip away the veneer of culture and show us for what we really are.

Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.

To be an object of hatred and aversion to their contemporaries has been the usual fate of all those whose merit has raised them above the common level. The man who submits to the shafts of envy for the sake of noble objects pursues a judicious course for his own lasting fame. Hatred dies with its object, while merit soon breaks forth in full splendor, and his glory is handed down to posterity in never-dying strains.

The strength of an Army lies in strict discipline and undeviating obedience to its officers.

Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.

Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought.