Thucydides Quotes

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.

It is from the greatest dangers that the greatest glory is to be won.

For men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.

He passes through life most securely who has least reason to reproach himself with complaisance toward his enemies.

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.

Right, 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.

People get into the habit of entrusting the things they desire to wishful thinking, and subjecting things they don't desire to exhaustive thinking

Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage.

We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.

Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils.

Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.

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

Human nature is the one constant through human history. It is always there.

Abstinence from all injustice to other first-rate powers is a greater tower of strength than anything that can be gained by the sacrifice of permanent tranquillity for an apparent temporary advantage.

For so remarkably perverse is the nature of man that he despises whoever courts him, and admires whoever will not bend before him.

The secret of freedom, courage.

History is Philosophy teaching by example.

In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.

Some legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.

I think the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion; haste usaully goes hand in hand with folly, passion with coarseness and narrowness of mind.

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.

The 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.

I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth.

Stories happen to those who tell them.

... Athenians are addicted to innovation. They are daring beyond their judgment they toil on with little opportunity for enjoying, being ever engaged in getting, they were born into the world to take no rest themselves, and to give none to others.

Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

For they had learned that true safety was to be found in long previous training, and not in eloquent exhortations uttered when they were going into action.

The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.

It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well, and look up to those who make no concessions.

Men's indignation, it seems, is more exited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.

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.

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

So little trouble do men take in the search after truth; so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand.

And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens.

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

An avowal of poverty is no disgrace to any man; to make no effort to escape it is indeed disgraceful.

The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.

When will there be justice in Athens? There will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are.

Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made.

In practice we always base our preparations against an enemy on the assumption that his plans are good; indeed, it is right to rest our hopes not on a belief in his blunders, but on the soundness of our provisions. Nor ought we to believe that there is much difference between man and man, but to think that the superiority lies with him who is reared in the severest school.

I dread our own mistakes more than the enemy's intentions.

Those who have experienced good and bad luck many times have every reason to be skeptical of successes

You can now, if you choose, employ your present success to advantage, so as to keep what you have got and gain honour and reputation besides, and you can avoid the mistake of those who meet with an extraordinary piece of good fortune, and are led on by hope to grasp continually at something further, through having already succeeded without expecting it.

You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely.

In general, the men of lower intelligence won out. Afraid of their own shortcomings and of the intelligence of their opponents, so that they would not lose out in reasoned argument or be taken by surprise by their quick-witted opponents, they boldly moved into action. Their enemies,on the contrary, contemptuous and confident in their ability to anticipate, thought there was no need to take by action what they could win by their brains.

Peace is an armistice in a war that is continuously going on.

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

Mankind are tolerant of the praises of others as long as each hearer thinks that he can do as well or nearly as well himself, but, when the speaker rises above him, jealousy is aroused and he begins to be incredulous.