Livy

Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE)

"Are we never to make changes? Because a thing had not been done before--and in a young country there are lots of things which have not been done before--is that a reason for never doing it, however great the benefits it may bring?"

• From a speech attributed to the tribune Canuleius by Livy in the History of Rome (Book 4, chapter 3), translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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Sima Qian (citing Yan An)

Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE)

"To incite troubles and leave them unsolved, to disband the armies only to call them up again, bringing sorrow and hardship to those near at hand and alarm to distant lands--this is no way to insure the continuance of the dynasty."

• Quote from an essay attributed to Yan An in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 112) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

"Philosophy, to an attentive ear,
Clearly points out, not in one part alone,
How imitative Nature takes her course
From the celestial mind, and from its art."

• Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto XI), translated by Henry F. Cary in the Harvard Classics series, edited by Charles W. Eliot, and published by P. F. Collier & Son (1909, 1937).

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Josephus

Josephus (c. 37/38-100)

"I fail to see how victory over a feeble enemy can be any indication of power."

• The Jewish War (Book I, section 8) by Josephus, translated by Martin Hammond (Oxford University Press, 2017).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god featured in the poem, Hávamál)

"Quite enough baseless blather comes
from the man never silent;
a quick tongue, unless it's held in check,
often talks itself into trouble."

• This quote comes from stanza 29 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"By raising the straight and putting them on top of the crooked, he can make the crooked straight."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book XII, section 22) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Livy

Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE)

"Men fighting for their own liberty and prestige are very different creatures from men who are called upon to use their judgement, unclouded by passion, when the fight is over."

• The History of Rome (Book 4, section 6) by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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The Buddha

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

"With energy, diligence,
restraint, and control,
the wise person should make an island
which no flood can overflow."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 2), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Just as the end of mirth is heaviness, so sorrows are dispersed by the advent of joy."

• The Decameron (First Day, Introduction) by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by G. H. McWilliam. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003. This line was seemingly inspired by Proverbs 14:13.

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Hesiod

Hesiod (flourished c. 8th century BCE)

"Right gets the upper hand over violence in the end."

• From Hesiod's Works and Days (approximately line 215), translated by M. L. West (Oxford World Classics, 1988, 1999, 2008).

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Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu (c. 6th-5th century BCE)

"The way begets one; one begets two; two begets three;
three begets the myriad creatures."

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

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"The real difference between man and other animals is that humans alone have perception of good and evil, just and unjust, etc. It is the sharing of a common view in these matters that makes a household and a state."

• From Aristotle's Politics (Bekker page 1253a), translated by T. A. Sinclair and revised by T. J. Saunders (Penguin Classics, 1962, 1981, 1992).

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"Only one who bursts with eagerness do I instruct; only one who bubbles with excitement, do I enlighten. If I hold up one corner and a man cannot come back to me with the other three, I do not continue the lesson."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book VII, section 8) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill (c. 1874-1965)

"We desire to see the return of a liberal age where Parliaments will guard freedom, where science will open the banqueting halls to the millions, and where what Bismarck once called 'practical Christianity' will mitigate suffering and misfortunes."

• From Sir Winston Churchill's "No Intervention In Spain" (January 8, 1937), in Winston S. Churchill Step By Step: Political Writings 1936-1939 (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015).

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Come, Love, the cause of all my joy,
Of all my hope and happiness,
Come let us sing together"

• From a poem included by Giovanni Boccaccio in the conclusion of the Second Day in his Decameron, translated by G. H. McWilliam. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god featured in the poem, Hávamál)

"Wits are needful for someone who wanders widely,
anything will pass at home;
he becomes a laughing-stock, the man who knows nothing
and sits among the wise."

• This quote comes from stanza 5 of Hávamál (Sayings of the High One), an old poem which was preserved in the 13th-century Poetic Edda which was produced anonymously in Iceland. The translation is by Carolyne Larrington (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56/57-117)

"As our bodies, which grow so slowly, perish in a flash, so too the mind and its interests can be more easily crushed than brought again to life. Idleness gradually becomes sweet, and we end by loving the sloth that at first we loathed."

• From the Agricola (section 3) by Tacitus, translated by Harold Mattingly and edited by J. B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.

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Hesiod

Hesiod (flourished c. 8th century BCE)

"He is a fool who seeks to compete against the stronger: he both loses the struggle and suffers injury on top of insult."

• From Hesiod's Works and Days (approximately line 210), translated by M. L. West (Oxford World Classics, 1988, 1999, 2008).

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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"When everyone dislikes a man, enquiry is necessary; when everyone likes a man, enquiry is necessary."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book XV, section 27) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1584-1645)

"Strategy is the craft of the warrior. Commanders must enact the craft, and troopers should know this Way. There is no warrior in the world today who really understands the Way of strategy."

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

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