Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth (Welsh writer, c. 12th century)

"Indeed, when it is obvious that men are no longer using their weapons, but are instead playing at dice, burning up their strength with women and indulging in other gratifications of that sort, then without any doubt their bravery, honour, courage and good name all become tainted with cowardice."

• From Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain (Part Seven), completed in 1136 CE, translated from Latin into English by Lewis Thorpe (Penguin Classics, 1966).

Read our biography about Geoffrey of Monmouth and his interesting book of pseudo-history, HERE.

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (Chinese philosopher and theologian, flourished 5th century BCE)

"The ghosts and spirits of past and present are of three kinds only: the spirits of Heaven, the spirits of the mountains and rivers, and the ghosts of men who have died."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Explaining Ghosts, part 3, section 31), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

Read our short biography of Mo Tzu, HERE.

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Cassius Dio

Cassius Dio (Roman Senator, 163-235)

"The best ruler, the one who is of any real value, should not only perform all the duties which fall to his lot, but should provide for the rest of his subjects, so that they can develop their virtues to the full."

• From Cassius Dio's The Roman History (Book 52, chapter 26), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987).

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (Chinese strategist and philosopher, 6th-5th Century BCE)

"Be rushing as a wind;
      Be stately as a forest;
Be ravaging as a fire;
      Be still as a mountain.
Be inscrutable as night;
      Be swift as thunder or lightning."

• From Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Chapter 7), translated by John Minford (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Hesiod

Hesiod (Ancient Greek Poet, c. 8th and 7th century BCE)

"That man is best who sees the truth himself;
Good too is he who listens to wise counsel.
But who is neither wise himself nor willing
To ponder wisdom is not worth straw."

• From Hesiod's Works and Days, translated by H. A. K. Thomson in his translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (c. 1859-1930)

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment."

• From A Study in Scarlet, in Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection (Enhanced Media, 2016).

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Confucius

Confucius (Chinese philosopher, 6th-5th century BCE)

"I once spent a whole day without food and a whole night without sleep, in order to meditate. it was no use. It is better to learn."

• From The Analects of Confucius (Book XV) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989). 

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Apollonius of Rhodes

Apollonius of Rhodes (Greek/Egyptian Scholar and Poet, 3rd Century BCE)

"Our shameless actions drive us to still more shameless actions."

• From Apollonius of Rhodes' epic poem, Argonautica (Book 4), based on the myth of Jason and the Argonauts. The translation is by Aaron Poochigian (Penguin Classics, 2014). 

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

"The wise man draws more advantage from his enemies than the fool from his friends."

• From Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjamin Franklin (Seven Treasures Publications, 2008).

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Cummian

Cummian (c. 591-662)

"Rome is mistaken; Jerusalem is mistaken; Antioch is mistaken; the whole world is mistaken; the Britons and the Irish alone hold the truth."

• From Epistola de controversia paschali (PL Ixxxvii, 974), Cummian's letter to Segene, the abbot of the monastery in Iona, c. 634. Translated by Leo Sherley-Pride, R. E. Latham and D. H. Farmer (Penguin Classics, 2003) in a footnote to their edition of Bede's Ecclesiastical History.

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Herodotus

Herodotus (490-425/420 BCE)

"A bow kept always strung would break, and so be useless when it was needed. It is the same with a man; anyone who was always serious, and never allowed himself a fair share of relaxation and amusement, would suddenly go off his head, or get a stroke."

• From The Histories by Herodotus (Book II), translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt and revised by John Marincola (Penguin Classics, 2002).

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Cassius Dio

Cassius Dio (Roman statesman and historian, c. 163-235)

"Certainly the best way for you to discover exactly what each man thinks is to give him the assurance that his opinion cannot be identified among all the others."

• From Cassius Dio's The Roman History (Book 52, chapter 33), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987). Dio wrote this quote in the character of Maecenas for a scene where Octavian was hearing advice from his advisors before deciding if Rome should become a democracy or remain dictatorial. 

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Thomas à Kempis

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471)

"A good man always finds cause for grief and tears; for whether he considers himself or his neighbors, he knows that no man lives without trouble in this life."

• From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis translated by L. Sherley-Price (Penguin, 1972).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"We are studying not to know what goodness is, but how to become good men, since otherwise it would be useless."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book II, ii) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

“We should bear in mind that, in general, it is the object of our newspapers rather to create a sensation—to make a point—than to further the cause of truth.”

• From Edgar Allan Poe's The Mystery of Marie Roget in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Works (JKL Classics, 2017).

Read about Edgar Allan Poe's rough early-adulthood, HERE and about his early career and marriage to his young cousin, Virginia Clemm, HERE.

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Plato

Plato (427-347 BCE)

"The most astonishing thing of all, however, is what gets said about the gods and goodness--that the gods often assign misfortune and a terrible life to good people, and the opposite to the other type of person."

• From Republic (Chapter 2) by Plato, translated by Robin Waterfield (Oxford World's Classics, 2008).

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Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine author, c. 1899-1986)

"There's no need to build a labyrinth when the entire universe is one."

• From Ibn-Hakam al-Bokhari, Murdered in His Labyrinth by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Andrew Hurley (Penguin Classics, 1998).

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George Orwell

Erik Blare / George Orwell (British author, c. 1903-1950)

"I think the pacifists might find it helpful to illustrate their pamphlets with enlarged photographs of lice. Glory of war, indeed."

• From Homage to Catalonia written by George Orwell and edited by Adam Hochschild and Lionel Trilling (Mariner Books, 1969).

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Mencius

Mencius (Ancient Chinese philosopher, c. 4th and 3rd century BCE)

"There has never been a man who could straighten others by bending himself."

• From The Mencius (Book III, Part B) by Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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The Malleus Maleficarum

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

"The stars can influence the devils themselves in the causing of certain spells; and therefore they can all the more influence men."

• From The Malleus Maleficarum (Part I, Question V) by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, translated by Montague Summers (Dover Publications, 1971). The stars in the background are courtesy of maxpixel.com.

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Cassius Dio

Cassius Dio (Greco-Roman statesman and historian, c. 163-235 CE)

"Most men are not kept within the bounds of moderation by mere admonition, or even by example; it is absolutely necessary to punish them by disfranchisement, by exile, or by death."

• From Cassius Dio's The Roman History (Book 52, chapter 7), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987). Dio wrote this quote in the character of Agrippa for a scene where Octavian was hearing advice from his advisors before deciding if Rome should become a democracy or remain dictatorial.

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Virgil

Virgil (Roman poet, 70-19 BCE)

"How each man weaves
his web will bring him to glory or to grief."

• From The Aeneid (Book X) by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics, 2010).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

"When a man bears patiently a number of heavy disasters, not because he does not feel them but because he has a high and generous nature, his nobility shines through."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book I, x) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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