Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"Injustice armed is hardest to deal with; and though man is born with weapons which he can use in the service of practical wisdom and virtue, it is all too easy for him to use them for the opposite purposes."

• 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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Hesiod

Hesiod (flourished 8th century BCE)

"Trust and mistrust alike have ruined men."

• From Hesiod's Works and Days (approximately line 370), translated by M. L. West (Oxford World Classics, 1988, 1999, 2008).

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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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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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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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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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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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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"As pleasure does not occur without activity, so every activity is perfected by its pleasure."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book X, section 4, Bekker page 1175a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Lao Tzu

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

"There is no crime greater than having too many
     desires;
There is no greater disaster than not being content."

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

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Hesiod

Hesiod (c. 8th century BCE)

"Little business has a man with disputes and debates who has not food for the year laid up at home in its ripeness, produce of the earth, Demeter's grain."

• From Hesiod's Works and Days (approximately line 29), translated by M. L. West (Oxford World Classics, 1988, 1999, 2008).

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (145-90 BCE)

"When a thing has reached its height it must begin to decay, and when an age has gone to one extreme it must turn again in the opposite direction; therefore we find periods of rude simplicity and periods of refinement alternating with each other endlessly."

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 130) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Livy

Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE)

"The truth is that our communal life is poisoned by political discord and party strife, and it was that which raised his hopes of destroying us, seeing as he did, your lust for liberty in perpetual conflict with our lust for power, and each party's loathing of the representative magistracies of the other."

• The History of Rome (Book 3, section 67) by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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