General William T. Sherman

General William T. Sherman (c. 1820-1891)


"I have never been a politician, and therefore undervalue the excited feelings and opinions of present rulers, but I do not think, if this people cannot execute a form of government like the present, that a worse one will result."

• From a letter by Sherman to Governor Moore (January 18, 1861) included in The Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by W. T. Sherman. (Renaissance Classics, 2012).

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Grettir the Strong

Grettir the Strong (said to have lived in the 11th century)

"Danger is at your own door when it has entered your neighbor's."

• Spoken by the character, Grettir, in the anonymously written Grettir's Saga (c. 14th century), chapter 34, translated by Jesse Byock (Oxford World's Classics, 2009).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"You can see one and the same man boasting that he will shake the whole world and the very next minute cringing prostrate in the dust - and this is even more likely to happen when they meet stronger characters."

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

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Tacitus

"Influence is rarely lasting. Such is its fate."

• From The Annals of Imperial Rome (Chapter 6), by Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant (Penguin Classics, 1996).

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (sayings recorded from 6th-3rd centuries BCE)

"The Skillful Strategist
     Defeats the enemy
     Without doing battle,
     Captures the city
     Without laying siege,
     Overthrows the enemy state
     Without protracted war."

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

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The Buddha

The Buddha (this saying recorded in the 3rd century)

"A seeker will master this earth,
this world of death and radiant beings.
A seeker will gather a well-taught verse on the way
as a skilled gardener gathers a flower."

• From The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 4), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Thomas Jefferson

"I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere."

• From a letter sent by Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams on February, 22, 1787. 

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Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth (flourished 12th century)

"It is easier for a kite to be made to act like a sparrow-hawk that for a wise man to be fashioned at short notice from a peasant."

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

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Grettir's Saga

Grettir's Saga (14th century Icelandic text)


"The old saying is true, people seldom live up to their reputations."

• Spoken by the character, Ali, in the anonymously written Grettir's Saga (c. 14th century), translated by Jesse Byock (Oxford World's Classics, 2009).

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"If a stout heart is lacking, all the skill in the world will not avail in the face of peril. Fear drives out all memory of previous instruction, and without the will to resist, skill is useless."

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

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Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (10th-11th century Japan)

"Do what you like, but not until you have collected your thoughts and considered the matter more calmly."

•  From Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (chapter 39), translated by Royall Tyler (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre (c. 1905-1980)

"Before you come alive, life is nothing; it's up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing else but the meaning that you choose."

• From Existentialism and Human Emotions (Philosophical Library Inc., 1957 and 1985).

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Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"On the whole, men seem to hold the view that women have ever done anything for humankind but bear children and spin wool."

• From The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 37) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999). 

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (C. 145-90 BCE)

"The enlightened ruler raises up those people who would otherwise be overlooked. The humble he makes eminent, the poor he enriches, the distant he draws close to him. Then those both high and low can be won over and the nation will be secure."

• From a speech delivered by Zhao Gao in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 6) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56-117+)

"Numbers encourage prejudice and hostile emotion."

• From The Annals of Imperial Rome (Chapter 5), by Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant (Penguin Classics, 1996).

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Confucius

Confucius (flourished 6th century BCE)

"He who is broad wins the multitude, he who keeps his word is trusted by the people, he who is diligent succeeds in all he undertakes, he who is just is the joy (of the people)."

• From The Analects of Confucius (Book XX, 1) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Grettir the Strong

Grettir the Strong (allegedly flourished in the 11th century)

"Many search in the distance while the truth is staring them in the eyes."

• Spoken by the character, Grettir, in the anonymously written Grettir's Saga (c. 14th century), translated by Jesse Byock (Oxford World's Classics, 2009).

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (c. 1859-1930)

"Crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace, and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth."

• From The Sign of the Four (Chapter 1), in Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection (Enhanced Media, 2016).

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Plutarch

Plutarch (c. 50-120)

"To push too far is risky in all circumstances, but when political ambitions are involved it is fatal."

• On Sparta (Life of Agis), excerpted from Plutarch's Parallel Lives, translated by Richard J. A. Talbert. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005.

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The Buddha

The Buddha (this saying written down in the 3rd Century BCE)

"Wandering far and alone, intangible,
the mind is hidden in the cave of the body.
Those who would restrain the mind
are liberated from the bonds of Māra."

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

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