Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"Day after day, one after the other, men fall in their hundreds - would we ever find rest from struggle and suffering? No: we must steel our hearts, bury our dead and let one day's tears suffice."

• From The Iliad (Book 19, approx. line 220) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and revised by Peter Jones (Penguin Classics, 2014). 

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Alfred the Great

King Alfred the Great (c. 844-899)

"A man cannot work on any enterprise without resources. In the case of the king, the resources and tools with which to rule are that he have his land fully manned: he must have praying men, fighting men and working men."

• From Alfred the Great's loose and expanded translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, translated to modern English by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

"One can forgive a man for not standing by his opinions in the face of powerful desires, but one cannot forgive wickedness or any other culpable attitude."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book VII, section 2, Bekker page 1146a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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The Buddha

The Buddha (6th-5th century BCE)

"Regard the person who sees your faults
as a revealer of treasures.
Associate with that skilled person
as one who is wise, who speaks reprovingly
Keeping company with such a person,
things get better, not worse."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 6), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Sun Tzu

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

"Managing many
     Is the same as
     Managing few;
     It is a question of
     Division."

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

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Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594)

"Anyone who does exactly what he wishes is plainly in subjection to none."

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (Book VI, section 18), translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"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."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book I, section 76) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).

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Friedrich Schleiermacher

Friedrich Schleiermacher (c. 1768-1834)

"To love the world spirit and joyfully observe its work is the goal of our religion, and in love there is no fear."

• From Friedrich Schleiermacher's On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers (second speech), translated by Richard Crouter (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (6th-5th century BCE)

"The sage knows without having to stir,
Identifies without having to see,
Accomplishes without having to act."

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

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384- 322 BCE)

"Nobody would choose to live without friends even if he had all the other good things."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book VIII, section 1, Bekker page 1155a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"You may rob the Three Armies of their commander-in-chief, but you cannot deprive the humblest peasant of his opinion."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book IX, section 25) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989). 

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56-117)

"Let it be clear to those inclined to admire unlawful acts that even under bad emperors men can be great, and that a sense of duty and discretion, if backed by ability and energy, can reach that peak of honour that many have stormed by precipitous paths, winning fame, without serving country, through an ostentatious death."

• From the Agricola (section 42) by Tacitus, translated by Harold Mattingly and edited by J. B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.

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The Buddha

The Buddha (6th-5th century BCE)

"Those wise ones, restrained in the body,
restrained as well in speech,
those wise ones, restrained in the mind,
they indeed are perfectly restrained."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 17), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004. 

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (5th century BCE)

"If men regard the families of others as they regard their own, then who would raise up his family to overthrow that of another? It would be like overthrowing his own."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Universal Love, part III, section 16), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

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Livy

Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE)

"One cannot hope for accuracy when dealing with a past so remote and with authorities so antiquated."

• The History of Rome (Book 2, section 21) by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"Grief is endurable when one weeps with an ache in the heart during the day but can at least sleep at night and forget everything, good and bad, once one's eyelids close."

• The Odyssey (Book 20, approximately line 90) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE)

"No matter how strong one's position may be, the important thing is that he should make benevolence and righteousness the basis of his conduct."

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 17) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Livy

Livy (c. 59 BCE - 17 CE)

"Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion."

• The History of Rome (Book 2, section 39) by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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The Malleus Maleficarum

The Malleus Maleficarum (published in 1487 by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger)

"I say, of what use is it to speak of remedies to those who desire no remedy?"

• From The Malleus Maleficarum (Part II, Question 2, Chapter 3) by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers (Dover Publications, 1971). 

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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

"The way never acts yet nothing is left undone."

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

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"One does not only defend oneself against a superior power when one is attacked; one takes measures in advance to prevent the attack materializing."

• From a speech attributed to Alcibiades (c. 450-404 BCE) in the History of the Peloponnesian War (Book VI, section 18) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).

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Friedrich Schleiermacher

Friedrich Schleiermacher (c. 1768-1834)

"Become conscious of the call of your innermost nature, I beseech you, and follow it."

• From Friedrich Schleiermacher's On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers, translated by Richard Crouter (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

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Zhufu Yan (recorded by Sima Qian)

ZhufuYan (c. 2nd century BCE)

"Any real man knows that there are only two alternatives in life—to succeed and dine from rich cauldrons, or to fail and end by being boiled alive in them."

• A quote attributed to Zhufu Yan in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 112) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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