Huo Qubing

Huo Qubing (c. 140-117 BCE)

"The only thing that matters is how one's own strategies are going to work. There is no need to study the old-fashioned rules of warfare!"

• A quote attributed to Huo Qubing in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 108) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Emperor Tiberius

Emperor Tiberius (r. 14-37)

"So long as my wits do not fail me, you can count on the consistency of my behavior; but I should not like you to set the precedent of binding yourselves to approve a man's every action, for what if something happened to alter that man's character?"

• Quote attributed to Emperor Tiberius in The Twelve Caesars (Tiberius) by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves and edited by James B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

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Abū Hāmid al-Gharnātī

Abū Hāmid al-Gharnātī (c. 1080-1170)

"In a book, there is no knowledge, there is only writing that guides us to knowledge. It only becomes knowledge when you harbor it in your memory, for knowledge is the attribute of the wise man."

• From Abū Hāmid's Exposition of some of the Wonders of the West, in Ibn Fadlān and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travelers in the Far North, translated by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone (Penguine Classics, 2012). 

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Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila (c. 1515-1582)

"Let us leave our reason and our fears in His hands and let us forget the weakness of our nature which is apt to cause us so much worry."

• From Interior Castle (Third Mansions, chapter II) by St. Teresa of Avila, translated by E. Allison Peers (Dover Publications, 2007). 

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (sayings recorded between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE)

"The Skillful Warrior
     Does not rely on the enemy's
     Not coming,
     But on his own
     Preparedness."

• Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Chapter Eight), translated by John Minford (Penguin Classics edition, 2009).  

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"The accepted view of the magnanimous man is that his gait is measure, his voice deep, and his speech unhurried. For since he takes few things seriously, he is not excitable, and since he regards nothing as great, he is not highly strung"

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book IV, section iii, Bekker page 1125a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004). 

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The Buddha

The Buddha (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

"Look at this beautified image
composed of wounds amassed.
Full of sickness, yet desired by many,
it has neither permanence nor constancy."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 11), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Harald Hardrada

King Harald II "Hardrada" Sigurdsson (c. 1015-1066)

"We never kneel in battle
Before the storm of weapons
And crouch behind our shields;
So the noble lady told me.
She told me once to carry
My head always high in battle
Where swords seek to shatter
The skulls of doomed warriors."

• A poem reportedly written by Harald Hardrada shortly before his death in 1066 at Stamford Bridge, and later recorded in King Harald's Saga by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson (Penguin Classics, 1966, 2005).

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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (6th-5th century BCE)

"I do my utmost to attain emptiness;
I hold firmly to stillness.
The myriad of creatures all rise together
And I watch their return."

• From Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (Book One, XVI), translated by D. C. Lau (Penguin Classics, 1963). 

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Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"God has some secrets that we shouldn't know.
How blessed are the simple, aya, indeed,
That only know enough to say their creed!"

• The Canterbury Tales (The Miller's Tale) by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated to modern English by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003). 

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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"There's no tenderness in war!"

• From The Iliad (Book 15, approx. line 740) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and revised by Peter Jones (Penguin Classics, 2014).

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Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594)

"The man who achieves what he has set out to do is under an obligation to no one."

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (Book V, section 43), translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people."

• From a speech attributed to Pericles in the History of the Peloponnesian War (Book II, section 37) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).  

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE)

"When the branches grow bigger than the roots, then something must break."

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 107) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"I have noticed that most people, after reaching a certain age, try to forget that they were ever young."

• The Decameron (Second Day, Eighth Story) by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by G. H. McWilliam. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.

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Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Teresa of Avila (c. 1515-1582)

"Oh, the secrets of God! I should never weary of trying to describe them to you. If I thought I could do so successfully. I do not mind if I write any amount of nonsense, provided that just once in a way I can write sense, so that we may give great praise to the Lord."

• From Interior Castle (Fifth Mansions, chapter I) by St. Teresa of Avila, translated by E. Allison Peers (Dover Publications, 2007).

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (5th century BCE)

"To do away with needless expenditure is the way of the sage kings and the source of great benefit to the world."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Moderation in Expenditure, part I, section 20), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

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Grettir the Strong

Grettir the Strong (said to have lived c. 996-1031)

"Nothing given, nothing owed."

• A saying attributed to Grettir, in the anonymously written Grettir's Saga (c. 14th century), chapter 17, translated by Jesse Byock (Oxford World's Classics, 2009).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

"Justice is only found among those whose mutual relations are controlled by law, and law is only found among those who are liable to injustice; for legal justice consists in distinguishing between what is just and what is unjust."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book V, section vi, Bekker page 1134a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (145-90 BCE)

"Nothing is more important than selecting the right generals and ministers!"

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 110) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Thucydides (speaking as Diodotus)

Thucydides (c.460-400 BCE)

"We should recognize that the proper basis of our security is in good administration rather than in the fear of legal penalties."

• From a speech attributed to Diodotus in the History of the Peloponnesian War (Book III, section 46) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972). 

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