Arrian

Arrian (lived approx. 90-173+)

"Most people, if they know they have done wrong, foolishly suppose they can conceal their error by defending it, and finding a justification for it; but in my belief there is only one medicine for an evil deed, and that is for the guilty man to admit his guilt and show that he is sorry for it."

• The Campaigns of Alexander (Book 7) by Arrian, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt and revised by J. Hamilton. New York; Penguin Classics, 1971.

Check out other quotes from Arrian, HERE.

Take a look at other Roman quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through the ancient quote picture section, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE. 

The Buddha

The Buddha (This quote recorded in the 3rd century BCE)

"There is no fever for the person
who has completed the journey--
free from sorrow,
freed in every respect,
the knots removed."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 7), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

Check out more quotes from the Buddha, HERE.

Take a look at other religious quotes, HERE.

Glance through our ancient quote picture category, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE

Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill (c. 1874-1965)

"The stronger we are, the more upright and free-spoken, the less danger will there be of the civilised and normal nations being drawn into the quarrels of cruel and wicked forces at either extreme of the political gamut."

• From Sir Winston Churchill's "The Communist Schism" (October 16, 1936), in Winston S. Churchill Step By Step: Political Writings 1936-1939 (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015).

Take a look at other Winston Churchill quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more modern quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through other war themed quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Emperor Tiberius

Emperor Tiberius (r. 14-47)


"A good shepherd shears his flock; he does not flay them."

• In The Twelve Caesars (Tiberius, sec. 32), Suetonius recorded the above quote as a response from Tiberius sent to governors who were asking about taxation policy. The line presumably came from a letter that was preserved in Rome during the time of Suetonius (c. 70-130+).

Take a look at other Roman quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through the ancient quote picture section, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE.

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (c. 1809-1849)

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence--whether much that is glorious--whether all that is profound--does not spring from disease of thought--from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect."

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

Read about Edgar Allan Poe's life in our short biography, HERE.

Take a look at other Edgar Allan Poe quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more American quote pictures, HERE.

Take a look at quotes from other poets, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"The man who thinks that he is worthy of great things although he is not worthy of them is conceited; but not everybody is conceited who has too high an opinion of his own worth."

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

Take a look at more Aristotle quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other Greek quotes, HERE.

Glance through the ancient quote picture section, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Sima Qian

Sima Qian (145-90 BCE)

"Listening to advice is the basis of an undertaking, and planning is the key to success."

• From a speech delivered by Kuai Tong in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 92) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

Look at more Sima Qian quotes, HERE.

Check out more Chinese quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through more ancient quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote pictures home page, HERE.

Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"Delusion, eldest daughter of Zeus who
blinds us all, damn her. She never touches the ground with those
soft feet of hers but flits over men's heads, corrupting them and
shackling one man after another."

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

Check out our short video on who Homer really was, HERE.

Take a look at our video about The Iliad, The Odyssey and Troy, HERE.

Find other Homer quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241)

"Bitter words could only
Rouse the rage of others.
Men who always quarrel
Have no wish for treaties."

• From an anonymous poem in King Harald's Saga by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson (Penguin Classics, 1966, 2005).

Watch a short video about Snorri Sturluson, HERE.

Take a look at other Sturluson quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Chuang Tzu

Chuang Tzu (4th century BCE)

"Your life has a limit but knowledge has none. If you use what is limited to pursue what has no limit, you will be in danger."

• From Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings (section 3), translated by Burton Watson. (Columbia University Press, 1996). 

Watch our video about the odd teaching style of Chuang Tzu, HERE.

Take a look at more Chuang Tzu quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more Chinese quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through more ancient quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote pictures home page, HERE.

Arrian

Arrian (c. 90-173+)

"None of these things, I say, can make a man happy, unless he can win one more victory in addition to those the world thinks so great - the victory over himself."

• The Campaigns of Alexander (Book 4) by Arrian, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt and revised by J. Hamilton. New York; Penguin Classics, 1971.

Take a look at other Roman quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through the ancient quote picture section, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE.

Skapti Thoroddson (Grettir's Saga)

Quote attributed to the Althing Lawspeaker, Skapti Thoroddson (in Grettir's Saga)

"Many a man's death has come through overconfidence."

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

Browse through more quotes from Grettir's Saga, HERE.

Take a look at other Norse/Scandinavian quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

The Buddha

The Buddha (Dhammapada verses were written down c. 3rd century BCE)

"Those whose minds are well trained
in the factors of full awakening
who delight, without clinging,
in the renunciation of grasping -
such bright ones, impulses destroyed,
are, in this very world, unbound."

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

Check out more quotes from the Buddha, HERE.

Take a look at other religious quotes, HERE.

Glance through our ancient quote picture category, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (6th-5th century BCE)

"To be overbearing when one has wealth and position
Is to bring calamity upon oneself."

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

Check out more Lao Tzu quote pictures, HERE.

Take a look at other Chinese quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote pictures home page, HERE.

Col. George Hanger

Col. George Hanger (c. 1750-1824)

"A soldier's musket, if not exceedingly ill-bored (as many of them are), will strike the figure of a man at eighty yards; it may even at 100; but a soldier must be very unfortunate indeed who shall be wounded by a common musket at 150 yards, provided his antagonist aims at him; and as to firing at a man at 200 yards with a common musket, you may as well fire at the moon and have the same hopes of hitting your object."

• To All Sportsmen and Particularly to Farmers, and Gamekeepers. By Colonel George Hanger. London, 1814, pg. 205.

Check out more British quote pictures, HERE.

Take a look at other war-related quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE. 

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th century)

"I consider theat there is nothing better or more enjoyable than life itself."

•  From Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain (Part One), 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.

Take a look at other Geoffrey of Monmouth quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more British quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56-117+)

"Impatience has ruined many excellent men who, rejecting the slow, sure way, court destruction by rising too quickly."

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

Take a look at other Tacitus quotes, HERE.

Take a look at other Roman quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through the ancient quote picture section, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE.

Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (between 479-372 BCE)

"If you ask what it is that has caused the ruler to neglect the affairs of government and the humble man to neglect his tasks, the answer is music. Therefore Mo Tzu said: Making music is wrong."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Against Music, part I, section 32), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963). 

Read our short biography of Mo Tzu, HERE.

Take a look at other Mo Tzu quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other philosophy Quotes, HERE.

Glance through other Chinese quotes, HERE.

Gudmund the Powerful (Grettir's Saga)

Gudmund the Powerful (c. 11th century, quoted in the 14th cenuty Grettir's Saga)

"Trust no one so well that you do not rely best on yourself."

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

Browse through more quotes from Grettir's Saga, HERE.

Take a look at other Norse/Scandinavian quote pictures, HERE.

Check out other medieval quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"It is just as true in politics as it is in any art or craft: new methods must drive out the old ones."

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

Take a look at more quotes from Thucydides, HERE.

Check out other Greek quote pictures, HERE.

Glance through more ancient quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

"If you would not be forgotten
As soon as you are dead and rotten,
Either write things worth reading
Or do things worth writing."

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

Have a look at our Benjamin Franklin biography, HERE.

Take a look at more Benjamin Franklin quote pictures, HERE.

Check out more United States quote pictures, HERE.

Return to the quote picture home page, HERE

Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430)

"As for the fact that the men who attacked and criticized women haven't yet been challenged, let me tell you that there's a time and a place for everything in the eternal scheme of things."

• From The Book of the City of Ladies (Part II, chapter 53) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

Take a look at other quote pictures from Christine de Pizan, HERE.

Check out more quotes from women throughout history, HERE.

Glance through other medieval quotes, HERE.

Return to the quote picture page, HERE.