Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE)

"In you there is nothing that we hate, nothing we detest, nothing we abominate, nothing we condemn, except human error."

• From The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, Part III, vol. 10, translated by Edmund Hill. Sermon: St. Augustine's "Sermon on the Dispute with the Donatists."

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Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

"We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & unalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness."

• From an early draft of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, this version found in Joseph J. Ellis' book, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson.

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Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE)

"Is any man so foolish as to fear change, to which all things that once were not owe their being?"

• From the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Xist Classics edition).

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Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE)

"Even I am unable to restrain my tears, when I behold my country no longer defensible by the genius, the prudence, and the authority of a legal magistrate."

• From Cicero's Brutus or History of Famous Orators, translated by E. Jones.

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Black Elk

Black Elk (Oglala Lakota Sioux, 1863-1950)

"It is the story of all life that is holy and is good to tell, and of us two-leggeds sharing in it with the four-leggeds and the wings of the air and all green things; for these are children of one mother and their father is one Spirit."

• From Black Elk Speaks, recorded by John G. Neihardt.

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Thomas More

Thomas More (1478-1535)

"Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with the means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming first a thief and then a corpse."

• From "Humanistic Solutions to Social Problems" in Thomas More's Utopia, translated by Paul Turner.

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The background picture is licensed under Creative Commons 1.0 (CC 1.0)

Virgil

Virgil (Roman Poet, 70-19 BCE)

"If you have no use for humankind and mortal armor,
at least respect the gods.  They know right from wrong.
They don't forget."

• From The Aeneid (Book I, approx. line 650) by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles.

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Apuleius

Apuleius (125-170 CE)

"You aren't really rich if nobody knows that you are."

• From The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses by Apuleius, translated by E. J. Kenney.

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Decimus Laberius

Decimus Laberius (1st Century BCE Roman Playwright)

"He whom many fear must fear many."

• Quote from a play by Decimus Laberius recorded by Cicero (Letters to His Friends), Suetonius (Caesar) and Macrobius (Saturnalia).

Decimus Laberius stated this line during the Celebrations in Rome held by Julius Caesar after his victory over Pompey the Great around 46 BCE, leaving him as the sole dictator. Caesar had the playwright play the part of a Syrian slave in one of his hit comedies, but Laberius survived the ordeal with little humiliation on his own part. He reportedly emphasized this line during the play, warning Julius Caesar of the possible consequences of tyranny.

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Odin (Sayings of the High One)

Odin (Norse god)

"I advise you to be wary,
but not too wary;
be wariest with ale
and another man's wife;
and third, be wary
that thieves don't outwit you."

• From the Sayings of the High One (Hávamál) edited by David A. H. Evans. 

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Friedrich Schleiermacher

Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834)

"History, in the most proper sense, is the highest object of religion. It begins and ends with religion--for in religion's eyes prophecy is also history, and the two are not to be distinguished fro one another."

• From Friedrich Schleiermacher's On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers, translated by Richard Crouter.

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Erasmus

Erasmus (1466-1536 CE)

"No veneration of Mary is more beautiful than the imitation of her humility. No devotion to the saints is more acceptable to God than the imitation of their virtues."

• From Erasmus' "Inner Faith Is Better Than Mere Ritual," translated by John P. Dolan

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Han Fei Tzu

Han Fei Tzu (c. 280-233 BCE)

"Those who fail to change old ways are often in fact prolonging the course of disorder, while those who strive to gratify the people are after some selfish and evil end."

• From Han Fei Tzu's Basic Writings translated by Burton Watson.

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Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716 CE)

"Bodies act as though, per impossible, there were no souls; and souls act as if there were no bodies, and both act as if each influenced the other."

• From Gottfried Leibniz' Monadology, translated by Mary Morris and G. H. R. Parkinson in Leibniz: Philosophical Writings.

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Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642 CE)

"We need a guide in unknown and uncouth parts, but in clear thoroughfares, and in open plains, only the blind stand in need of a leader."

• From Galileo Galilei's Dialogue on the Great World-Systems. The original background picture of Galileo is filed under the Creative Commons license (4.0).

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Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE)

"Today the enemy would have won the war if only they had a commander who knew how to conquer."

• This comment was stated by Caesar in reference to his siege of Pompey the Great at Dyrrhachium, in ancient Greece (modern Albania). Pompey could have broken through Caesar's siege walls, but failed to press his advantage. Nevertheless, Caesar eventually abandoned the siege to regroup and resupply. The comment was recorded by Plutarch and Suetonius, each in their books similarly called Caesar (39.39 and 36 respectively).

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Roman Senator Metellus Macedonius

Metellus Macedonius (Senator of Rome from the 2nd century BCE)

"Fellow Romans, if we could make do without a wife, we would all be free of such a nuisance. But nature has ordained that we can't live easily with women or without them, so we must look to our long term needs rather than our short-term happiness."

• From a speech given by  Metellus Macedonius to the senate of Rome in 131 BCE, recorded by Aulus Gellius in Attic Nights.

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Mo Tzu

 

Mo Tzu (5th Century BCE Philosopher and Theologian)

"It is the business of the benevolent man to try to promote what is beneficial to the world and to eliminate what is harmful."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, translated by Burton Watson.

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Read a short biography about Mo Tzu, here.

Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (10th and 11th Century CE)

"The letters worth reading are those sent when the writer was angry, or when dusk was falling and she anxiously awaited her lover's coming."

• From The Tale of Genji written in the 11th century by Murasaki Shikibu.

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General Joseph E. Johnston

General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891)

"The revolution begun was justified by the maxims so often repeated by Americans, that free government is founded on the consent of the governed, and that every community strong enough to establish and maintain its independence has a right to assert it."

• From Joseph E. Johnston's Narrative of Military Operations During the Civil War. Johnston was a general for the Confederate States of America during the U.S. Civil War. He spent much of his time in the war trying to defend the south against the Union General, W. T. Sherman.

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General W. T. Sherman

General W. T. Sherman (1820-1891)

"Indeed, Florida was the Indian's paradise, was of little value to us, and it was a great pity to remove the Seminoles at all, for we could have collected there all the Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, and Chickasaws, in addition to the Seminoles."

• From the Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman. General Sherman was stationed in Florida and South Carolina in the United states prior to the Mexican-American War. He would later become a major figure in the Union victory over the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War.

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Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"First, do not deal in shams. Second, if it is known that you do not mean to fight, and will do nothing which forces the other side to attack you, it is better not to take a leading part in fierce quarrels."

• From Winston Churchill's 1936 speech, "Why Sanctions Failed."

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Dumnorix

Dumnorix (leader of the Aeduan tribe in Gaul, 1st century BCE)

"I am a free man of a free people!"

• Stated by Dumnorix around 54 BCE, shortly before being executed by the Romans for refusing to participate in Julius Caesar's second expedition to southern Britain. Julius Caesar recorded Dumnorix's last words in his Commentaries on the Gallic War.

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Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE)

"Human nature everywhere yearns for freedom and hates submitting to domination by another."

• From The Complete Works of Julius Caesar (Commentaries on the Gallic War). This statement was recorded around 56 BCE, just before he began marching against a rebellion by the Veneti tribe of western Gaul.

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

"As we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, We should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."

• From The Autobiography and Other Writings of Benjamin Franklin, edited by Kenneth Silverman.

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