Apollonius of Rhodes

Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BCE)

"Please do not
be one among the race of humandkind
whose minds by minor errors tumble rashly
into disaster."

• 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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George Orwell

George Orwell (c. 1903-1950)

"Future historians will have nothing to go upon except a mass of accusations and party propaganda."

• From Homage to Catalonia (Chapter 11) written by George Orwell and edited by Adam Hochschild and Lionel Trilling (Mariner Books, 1969).

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Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584-1645)


"The Way of strategy is the Way of nature. When you appreciate the power of nature, knowing rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally."

• From Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings, translated by V. Harris (Lord Majesty Productions, 2005 edition).

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Pope Gregory I "The Great"

Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)

"My very dear sons, it is better never to undertake any high enterprise than to abandon it when once begun."

• From a letter sent by Pope Gregory I to St. Augustine of Canterbury (c. 596) when the members of the mission to Britain appealed to come home early, included in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (and relevant letters), translated by Leo Sherley-Pride, R. E. Latham and D. H. Farmer (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Emperor Claudius

Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54)

"I decide in favour of the party which has told the truth."

• The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves and edited by James B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"To kill oneself to escape from poverty or love or anything else that is distressing is not courageous but rather the act of a coward, because it shows weakness of character to run away from hardships, and the suicide endures death not because it is a fine thing to do but in order to escape from suffering."

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

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Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (c. 1809-1849)

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

• From The Premature Burial in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Works (JKL Classics, 2017).

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Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"I hope the company won't reprove me
Though I should speak as fantasy may move me,
And please don't be offended at my views;
They're really only offered to amuse."

• 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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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (145-90 BCE)

"To be wise only in knowledge but lack lack the resoluteness to act is to meet disaster in every undertaking."

• 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).

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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"It is the law of our mortal nature, when we
come to die. We no longer have sinews keeping the bones and
flesh together; once life has departed from our white bones, all
is consumed by the fierce heat of the blazing fire, and the soul
slips away like a dream and goes fluttering on its way."

• The Odyssey (Book 11) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Just as the sky, worthy young ladies, is bejeweled with stars on cloudless nights, and the verdant fields are embellished with flowers in the spring, so good manners and pleasant converse are enriched by shafts of wit."

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

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (c. 6th-5th Century BCE)

"Exhaust
A fresh enemy;
Starve
A well-fed enemy;
Unsettle
A settled enemy."

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

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King Agesilaus II (Sayings of the Spartans)

King Agesilaus II (r. 400-360 BCE)

"Cities shouldn't be fortified with stones or timbers, but with the valour of their inhabitants."

•  Quote attributed to King Agesilaus II in the Sayings of the Spartans, presumably collected by Plutarch, in On Sparta, translated by Richard J. A. Talbert. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005.

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"Such is the way of Fortune: when she wishes to smile on a man she exalts him on high, crowns him with a royal diadem, and gives him sandals of purple; but when she frowns, instead of the purple and the crown, she clothes him in ragged garments of black."

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

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Al-Ghazālī

Al-Ghazālī (c. 1058-1111)

"With your question you have climbed a difficult slope, one before whose upper regions the eyes of the observers fall back. You have knocked at a locked door that is not to be opened except for the firmly rooted possessors of knowledge."

• From The Niche of Lights by Al Ghazālī, translated by David Buchman. Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1998.

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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"I would rather work the soil as a serf
on hire to some landless impoverished peasant
than be king of all these lifeless dead."

•  The Odyssey (Book 11) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and edited by D. C. H. Rieu. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.
  
  
  Check out our short video on who Homer really was, HERE.
  
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Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (10th-11th century)

"The sun and moon never turn back. No one escapes old age."

• From Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji (chapter 35), translated by Royall Tyler (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594)

"If among all our people there is not one man to be found who can write a book about what is happening today, the pursuit of letters really is dead in us!"

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (specifically from Gregory's preface), translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

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Arrian

Arrian (c. 90-173+)

"Sir, if there is one thing above all others a successful man should know, it is when to stop."

• A speech by Coenus to Alexander the Great written by Arrian in The Campaigns of Alexander (Book 5), translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt and revised by J. Hamilton. New York; Penguin Classics, 1971.

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Nithard

Nithard (Frankish nobleman, c. 790s-844/845)

"Once there was abundance and happiness everywhere, now everywhere there is want and sadness. Once even the elements smiled on everything and now they threaten, as Scripture which was left to us as the gift of God, testifies: And the world will wage war against the mad."

• Nithard’s Histories in the Carolingian Chronicles translated by Bernhard Scholz and Barbara Rogers. Ann Arbor Paperbacks / University of Michigan Press, 1972.

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Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"Beware, my son, and listen patiently,
For twenty thousand men have lost their lives
For wrangling with their lovers and their wives."

• From The Canterbury Tales (The Summoner's Tale) by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated into modern English by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Agis II (Sayings of the Spartans)

Agis II (King of Sparta, r. 427-400 BCE)

"The man who wants to rule many men must fight many."

•  Sayings of the Spartans, presumably collected by Plutarch, in On Sparta, translated by Richard J. A. Talbert. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005.

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Grettir's Saga

Grettir's Saga (anonymous 14th century text)

"No man can trust
in his own unaided
strength, that's clear
to me - because
the courage of heroes
ebbs away
on the death day
as their luck runs out."

• A Life/Death Poem about the character, Hallmund, recorded in the anonymously written Grettir's Saga (c. 14th century), translated by Jesse Byock (Oxford World's Classics, 2009). 

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