Notable Quotes By Thucydides | Thucydides Quotes

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. The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage. The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, who are in danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it. Knowledge without understanding is useless. Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared. Love of power, operating through greed and through personal ambition, was the cause of all these evils. Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most. Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage. It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well, and look up to those who make no concession. We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severer school. Human nature is the one constant through human history. It is always there. 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. We secure our friends not by accepting favors, but by doing 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. 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. Ignorance is bold, and knowledge reserved. Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous. He who graduates the harsher school succeeds. The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable. History is philosophy teaching by example. We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing. 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 harder school. Don't confuse meaning with truth. And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens. So little trouble do men take in the search after truth, so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand. Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought. When one is deprived of one's 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. You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely. I'm not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit. It is from the greatest dangers that the greatest glory is to be won. When tremendous dangers are involved, no one can be blamed for looking to his own interest. It is men who make a city, not walls or ships. Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris. I think the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion. Haste usually goes hand in hand with folly, passion with coarseness and narrowness of mind. For so remarkably perverse is the nature of man, that he despises whoever courts him and admires whoever will not bend before him. Remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty and with a sense of honor in action. 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. 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. It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.