Quotes by Thucydides

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

The opinions of men depend very much on rumors; and they have a greater dread of an enemy who proclaims himself ready to begin the attack, than of one who merely professes his intention to defend himself against assaults, as they think that there will be then only an equality of danger.

Power is more firmly secured by treating our equals with justice, than if, elated by present prosperity, we attempt to enlarge it at every risk.

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

It is the part of the wise, in their estimates of success, to make due allowance for the effects of chance.

People are inclined to accept all stories of ancient times in an uncritical way -even when those stories concern their own native counties...Most people, in fact, will not take trouble in finding out the truth, but are more inclined to accept the first story they hear.

Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared.

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

When a man finds a conclusion agreeable, he accepts it without argument, but when he finds it disagreeable, he will bring against it all the forces of logic and reason.

Wealth to us is not mere material for vainglory but an opportunity for achievement; and poverty we think it no disgrace to acknowledge but a real degredation to make no effort to overcome.

We secure our friends not by accepting favours but by doing them.

In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours.

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

If you give way, you will instantly have to meet some greater demand, as having been frightened into obedience in the first instance; while a firm refusal will make them clearly understand that they must treat you more as equals.

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

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

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

Still hope leads men to venture; and no one ever yet put himself in peril without the inward conviction that he would succeed in his design.

The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.

In peace and prosperity states and individuals have better sentiments, because they do not find themselves suddenly confronted with imperious necessities; but war takes away the easy supply of daily wants and so proves a rough master that brings most men's characters to a level with their fortunes.

When one is deprived of ones liberty, one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the shackles on as the one who had the power to prevent him, but did not use it.

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.

Three of the gravest failings, want of sense, of courage, or of vigilance.

And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best.

It must be thoroughly understood that war is a necessity, and that the more readily we accept it,the less will be the ardor of our opponents, and that out of the greatest dangers communities and individuals acquire the greatest glory.

The Thracian people, like the bloodiest of the barbarians, being ever most murderous when it has nothing to fear.

Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just contempt of an enemy can alone arise in those who feel that they are superior to their opponent by the prudence of their measures.

Hope, danger's comforter.

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.

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.

For we both alike know that into the discussion of human affairs the question of justice enters only where the pressure of necessity is equal, and that the powerful exact what they can, and the weak grant what they must.

Now the only sure basis of an alliance is for each party to be equally afraid of the other.

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.

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.

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

Knowing the secret of happiness to be freedom, and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy's onset.

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.

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.

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.

When night came on, the Macedonians and the barbarian crowd suddenly took fright in one of those mysterious panics to which great armies are liable.

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.

I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.

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.

The meaning of words had no longer the same relation to things... Reckless daring was held to be loyal courage; prudent delay was the excuse of a coward; moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness; to know everything was to do nothing. Frantic energy was the true quality of man.

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

They are surely to be esteemed the bravest spirits who, having the clearest sense of both the pains and pleasures of life, do not on that account shrink from danger.

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.

Hatred also is short lived; but that which makes the splendor of the present and the glory of the future remains forever unforgotten

here we bless your simplicity but do not envy your folly.

Indeed 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.

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

They whose minds are least sensitive to calamity, and whose hands are most quick to meet it, are the greatest men and the greatest communities.

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.

Friendship or enmity is everywhere an affair of time and circumstance.

It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.

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

Concessions to adversaries only end in self reproach, and the more strictly they are avoided the greater will be the chance of security.

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.

But the prize for courage will surely be awarded most justly to those who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger.

It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not desire.

For the love of gain would reconcile the weaker to the dominion of the stronger, and the possession of capital enabled the more powerful to reduce the smaller cities to subjection.

One's sense of honor is the only thing that does not grow old, and the last pleasure, when one is worn out with age, is not, as the poet said, making money, but having the respect of one's fellow men.

The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men.

For these reasons or reasons very like them he was killed
who, of all the Hellenes in my time, least deserved to come
to so miserable an end, since the whole of his life had been devoted
to the study and the practice of virtue.

We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing.

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.

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

In a word I claim that our city as a whole is an education to Greece.

The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.

Athens' biggest worry was the sheer recklessness of its own democratic government. A simple majority of the citizenry, urged on and incensed by clever demagogues, might capriciously send out military forces in unnecessary and exhausting adventures.

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.

Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.

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.

The secret of freedom, courage.

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

People who wrong others for no good reason tend to keep at it until they finish the job.

History is Philosophy teaching by examples.

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

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

History is Philosophy teaching by example.

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

The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.

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

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

Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war.

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

We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.

Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.

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

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

Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are injured.

The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage.