Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"It is the bad man who ought to feel shame, because he is the sort of man to do a shameful deed; but it is absurd to think that being so constituted as to feel shame at doing something shameful makes you a good man."

• The Nicomachean Ethics (Book IV, chapter ix) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004). 

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Xenophanes

Xenophanes (c. 560-478 BCE)

"There is no man that has seen, nor any that will ever know, the exact truth concerning the gods and all the other subjects of which I speak."

• Fragment of 34 of Xenophanes, Diels-Kranz edition, 1951.

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Onund Tree-Foot (Grettir's Saga)

Onund Tree-Foot
(semi-mythical Norwegian Viking and Icelandic settler said to have lived in the 9th century)

"The day we faced the music
of sword blades clanging on shields
destroyed my life's joy:
hardships grip us too soon."

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

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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"Few sons, indeed, are like their
fathers. Generally they are worse; but just a few are better."

• The Odyssey (Book 2) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.

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The Buddha

The Buddha (this saying recorded c. 3rd century BCE)

"Better than a thousand statements
composed of meaningless words
is a single meaningful word which,
having been heard, brings peace."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 8), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004. 

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"If I live honestly and my conscience is clear, then people may say whatever they like; God and Truth will take up arms in my defence."

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

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

"The knight of the Way who thinks only of sitting quietly at home is not worthy to be called a knight."

• From The Analects of Confucius (Book XIV, 3) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56-117+)

"To oblige is often as harmful as to offend."

• From The Annals of Imperial Rome (Chapter 13), by Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant (Penguin Classics, 1996). 

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Chuang Tzu

Chuang Tzu (c. 370-287 BCE)

"Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views - then the world will be governed."

• From Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings (section 16, "Fit for Emperors and Kings"), translated by Burton Watson. (Columbia University Press, 1996).

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Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch (martyred around 110)

"May I have the good fortune to meet my fate without interference!"

• From the "Letter of Ignatius to the Romans" translated by Cyril C. Richardson (1970) in After The New Testament: A Reader In Early Christianity, edited by Bart D. Ehrman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (6th and 5th century BCE)

"The way is to the world as the River and the Sea are to
rivulets and streams."

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

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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"For of all creatures
that breathe and creep about on the earth, there is none so
miserable as man."

• From The Iliad (Book 17) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and revised by Peter Jones (Penguin Classics, 2014).

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

"Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure when he is really selling himself a slave to it."

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

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Plutarch

Plutarch (c. 50-120)

"Politicians, too, whose sights are set on glory, are servants of the crowd even though they are called rulers."

• 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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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322)

"Virtue consists more in doing good than in receiving it, and more in doing fine actions than in refraining from disgraceful ones."

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

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"To take pity on people in distress is a quality which every man and woman should possess, but it is especially requisite in those who have once needed comfort, and found it in others."

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

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"You will find that an act of kindness done at the right moment has a power to dispel old grievances quite out of proportion to the act itself."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book I) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972). The quote comes from a speech that Thucydides wrote for an anonymous Corinthian diplomat.

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Grettir the Strong

"Only what is tested is known."

• 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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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (c. 6th and 5th cenuries BCE)

"The way gives them life;
Virtue rears them;
Things give them shape;
Circumstances bring them to maturity."

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

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Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"No man can match the great services that women have done and continue to do for humanity."

• From The Book of the City of Ladies (Part II, chapter 30) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

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Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill (c. 1874-1965)

"Bold captains are required for perilous seas."

• From Churchill's "Dusk Approaches" speech (dated July 13, 1936) in Winston S. Churchill Step By Step: Political Writings 1936-1939 (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322)

"Things that have a use can be used both well and badly; and wealth is a thing that can be used."

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

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Every person born into this world has a natural right to sustain, preserve, and defend his own life to the best of his ability."

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

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