Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (c. 1809-1849)

"A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken possession of my soul - a sensation which will admit of no analysis, to which the lessons of bygone times are inadequate, and for which I fear futurity itself will offer me no key."

• From Edgar Allan Poe's "Ms. Found in a Bottle" in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Works (JKL Classics, 2017).

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth nor liberty to purchase power."

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

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Egil Skallagrimsson

Egil Skallagrimsson (10th century Viking-poet)

"Time seems long in passing
as I lie alone,
a senile old man
on the downy bed.
My legs are two
frigid widows,
those women
need some flame."

• Egil's Saga (recorded c. 13th century possibly by Snorri Sturluson), translated by Bernard Scudder. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004 edition.

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Plato

Plato (c. 427-347 BCE)

"The children of our community must engage in more lawful amusements right from the start, because when pastimes become lawless and children follow suit, it is impossible for them to grow into law-abiding exemplary adults."

• From Republic (Chapter 5) by Plato, translated by Robin Waterfield (Oxford World's Classics, 2008).

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Cassius Dio

Cassius Dio (c. 163-235)

"Much of what a ruler does to punish men for alleged conspiracy against him, whether he takes action personally or through the Senate, is suspected to have been prompted by spite, however well justified it may have been."

• From Cassius Dio's The Roman History (Book 54, chapter 15), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987). 

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56/57-117)

"Men's minds, once unbalanced, are ready to believe anything."

• The Annals of Imperial Rome (chapter 2) by Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin Classics, 1996.

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (This quote recorded between the 6th and 3rd century BCE)

"Command is
     Wisdom,
     Integrity,
     Compassion,
     Courage,
     Severity."

• From Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Chapter 1), translated by John Minford (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"What I fear is not the enemy's strategy, but our own mistakes."

• History of the Peloponnessian War (Book I) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972). The quote comes from a speech that Thucydides wrote while in the character of Pericles.

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Apuleius

Apuleius (c. 125-170/180)

"What nobody knows about to all intents and purposes hasn't happened."

• From The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses (Book 10) by Apuleius, translated by E. J. Kenney (Penguin Classics Edition).

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Mo Tzu

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

"Now what does Heaven desire and what does it hate? Heaven desires righteousness and hates unrighteousness."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (The Will of Heaven, part I, section 26), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

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Edgar Allan Poe

Edar Allan Poe (c. 1809-1849)

"They who dream by day are cognizant of may things which escape those who dream only by night."

• From Edgar Allan Poe's "Eleonora" in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Works (JKL Classics, 2017).

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Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"He who accepts his poverty unhurt
I'd say is rich although he lacked a shirt,
But truly poor are they who whine and fret
And covet what they cannot hope to get.
And he that, having nothing, covets not,
Is rich, though you may think he is a sot."

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

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Egil Skallagrimsson

Egil Skallagrimsson (10th century semi-mythical Viking-Poet from Iceland)

"With its chisel of snow, the headwind,
scourge of the mast, mightily
hones its file by the prow
on the path that my sea-bull treatds.
In gusts of wind, that chillful
destroyer of timber planes down
the planks before the head
of my sea-king's swan."

• Egil's Saga (recorded c. 13th century possibly by Snorri Sturluson), translated by Bernard Scudder. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004 edition.

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"Even the mistakes which we made before are now a factor on our side, since we shall be able to learn from them."

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

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Thomas à Kempis

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471)

"Happy and wise is he who endeavors to be during his life as he wishes to be found at his death."

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

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (first major historian of China, c. 145-90 BCE)

"No one knows why order comes about - such is the ordering of a true sage."

• From The Basic Annals of Qin in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (Historian and princess of the Byzaninte Empire, c. 1083-1153)

"For my part, I think that to win a victory by sound planning requires courage; force of character and energy uninformed by thought are not enough - they end not in courage, but in foolhardiness."

• From The Alexiad (Book XV) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009). 

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Egil Skallagrimsson

Egil Skallagrimsson (10th century semi-mythical Viking-poet)

"Let us make our drawn swords glitter,
you who stain wolf's teeth with blood;
now that the fish of the valleys thrive,
let us perform brave deeds."

• Egil's Saga (recorded c. 13th century possibly by Snorri Sturluson), translated by Bernard Scudder. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004 edition.

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"It is easy to get angry - anyone can do that - or to give and spend money; but to feel or act towards the right person to the right extent at the right time for the right reason in the right way - that is not easy, and it is not everyone that can do it."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book II, chapter ix, Bekker page 1109a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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King Alfred the Great

King Alfred the Great (King of Wessex, r. 871-899, and leader of the Anglo-Saxon world during the late 9th-century Viking invasions of Britain)

"Wisdom, humility, caution, moderation, justice, mercy, discretion, constancy, benevolence, chastity and temperance. With these anchors you should fix in God the cable so that it will hold the ship of your mind."

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

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Chuang Tzu

Chuang Tzu / Zhuangzi (370/369 - 387/386 BCE)

"You begin with what is comfortable and never experience what is uncomfortable when you know the comfort of forgetting what is comfortable."

• From Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings (section 19, "Mastering Life"), translated by Burton Watson. (Columbia University Press, 1996). 

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"'Slow' and 'cautious' can equally well be 'wise' and 'sensible.' Certainly it is because we possess these qualities that we are the only people who do not become arrogant when we are successful, and who in times of stress are less likely to give than others."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book I, chapter 84) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner and introduced by M. I. Finley. New York: Penguin Classics, 1972. This quote is from a speech that Thucydides manufactured for King Archidamus of Sparta, explaining the reasoning behind Sparta's caution around the time of the Peloponnesian War.

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Cassius Dio

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

"Keep your weapons always ready to hand, but do not use them either against one another or against those who are at peace."

• From Cassius Dio's The Roman History (Book 53, chapter 10), translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Classics, 1987). Dio wrote this quote in the character of Octavian for a scene where Octavian gives a speech about remaining in power as a dictator.

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