Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (c. 1809-1849)

"In no affairs of mere prejudice, pro or con, do we deduce inferences with entire certainty, even from the most simple data."

• From Edgar Allan Poe's Narrative of A. Gordon Pym in Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Works (JKL Classics, 2017).

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

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Brynhild (Saga of the Volsungs)

Brynhild (from the Saga of the Volsungs)

"Now shall you choose,
 As you are offered a choice,
 O maple shaft of sharp weapons.
 Speech or silence,
 You must muse for yourself.
 All words are already decided."

• A poem attributed to Brynhild in The Saga of the Volsungs (chapter 21), by an anonymous 13th century Icelander, translated by Jesse L. Byock (Penguin Classics, 1990, 1999).

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"So long as the ruler loves ritual, the people will be easy to handle."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book XIV, section 44) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

"Who is wise?
He that learns from everyone.

Who is powerful?
He that governs his passions.

Who is rich?
He that is content.

Who is that?
Nobody."

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

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Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)

"Reason dictates that those who are truly pious and philosophers should honor and love only the truth, declining to follow the opinions of the ancients, if they are worthless."

• Justin Martyr's "First Apology" (chapter 2), translated by Leslie William Barnard 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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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"The gods listen to the man who goes along with them."

• From The Iliad (Book 1, approx. line 220) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and revised by Peter Jones (Penguin Classics, 2014).

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The Buddha

The Buddha (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

"A person who harms living beings is not noble.
By being gentle to all living beings
one is called 'noble.'"

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 19), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Strabo

Strabo (c. 64 BCE- 24 CE)

"It is in great undertakings that the truth shines out in all its brilliancy, for here, while the success resulting from knowledge is grand, the consequences of ignorance are disastrous."

• Strabo's Geography (I.1.17), translated by H.C. Hamilton and W. Falconer (1903 edition), republished in The Complete Works of Strabo (Delphi Classics, 2016).

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (sayings recorded between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE)

"Rashly underestimate your enemy,
     And you will surely be
     Taken captive."

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

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King James I

King James I (c. 1566-1625)

"Judges ought indeed to beware whom they condemn, for it is as great a crime (as Solomon says) to condemn the innocent, as to let the guilty escape free."

• The Demonology of King James I (Book III, chapter VI), edition of Donald Tyson (Llewellyn Publications, 2011).

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Gregory of Tours

Gregory of Tours (c. 539-594)

"As for you, who accuse others of injustice, promise first that you yourself will keep the law and the canons."

• The History of the Franks by Gregory of Tours (Book V, section 18), translated by Lewis Thorpe. New York: Penguin Classics, 1971.

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Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"For every man will perish, king and page,
Some in their beds and some in the deep sea,
And some upon the battle-field, maybe.
There is no help for it, all take the track,
For all must die and there is none comes back"

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

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Thucydides (speaking as Alcibiades)

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"Democracy is the name given to any force that opposes absolute power."

• From a speech attributed to Alcibiades (c. 450-404 BCE) in the History of the Peloponnesian War (Book VI, section 89) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972). 

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Mencius

Mencius (4th century BCE)

"You can never gain the Empire without the heartfelt admiration of the people in it."

• From The Mencius (Book IV, Part B, section 16) by Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés (c. 1485-1547)

"Comrades, since we are few, we must always be as ready and as much on the alert as if we already saw our enemy coming to attack us."

• Quote attributed to Hernán Cortés in The Conquest of New Spain (chapter 62) by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (c. 1492-1580), translated by J. M. Cohen (Penguin Classics, 1963).

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The Buddha

The Buddha (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

"Sorrow springs from attachment.
Fear springs from attachment.
For the person freed from attachment
there is no sorrow. From where could fear emmerge?"

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 16), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Christine de Pizan

Christine de Pizan

"Don't you know it's the very finest things which are the subject of the most intense discussion?"

• The Book of the City of Ladies (Part I, chapter 2) by Christine de Pizan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).

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Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (10th-11th century)

"The heart decides what is to become of us. The great-hearted have great good fortune, and likewise the pusillanimous. Those who rise high have little peace, the reckless do not last, and those whose hearts are meek and mild are most likely to endure."

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

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Strabo

Strabo (c. 64 BCE-24 CE)

"Geography is essential to all the transactions of the statesman, informing us, as it does, of the position of the continents, seas, and oceans of the whole habitable earth."

•  Strabo's Geography (I.1.16), translated by H.C. Hamilton and W. Falconer (1903 edition), republished in The Complete Works of Strabo (Delphi Classics, 2016).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"Victory means the same thing always, but the means by which generals attain it are varied and of intricate patterns."

• The Alexiad (Book XV, section 3) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)


"High office filled by men of narrow views, ritual performed without reverence, the forms of mourning observed without grief - these are things I cannot bear to see!" 

•  The Analects of Confucius (Book III, section 26) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989). 

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Thucydides (in the character of Nicias)

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"It is senseless to go against people who, even if conquered, could not be controlled, while failure would leave us much worse off than we were before we made the attempt."

• From a speech attributed to Nicias in the History of the Peloponnesian War (Book VI, section 11) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).

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Hrolf Kraki

King Hrolf Kraki (c. 6th century)

"He flees no fire
 who jumps over it."

• Poem attributed to Hrolf Kraki in The Saga of Hrolf Kraki (chapter 28), written by an anonymous 14th century Icelander, and translated by Jesse Byock. New York: Penguin Classics, 1998.

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