Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"Be loyal and true to your every word, serious and careful in all you do; and you will get on well enough, even though you find yourself among barbarians."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book XV, section 5) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989).

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Never be made glad by wickedness
but please yourself with good things."

• This quote comes from stanza 128 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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Plutarch

Plutarch (c. 50-120)

"Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen, than it inspires an impulse to practise; and influences the mind and character not by a mere imitation which we look at, but, by the statement of the fact, creates a moral purpose which we form."

• Quote by Plutarch in Parallel Lives (Life of Pericles). The edition used here is from the Harvard Classics series, edited by Charles W. Eliot, and published by P. F. Collier & Son (1909, 1937).

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)

"Do as you would be done by, that's my motto."

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

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Where you recognize evil, call it evil,
and give no truce to your enemies."

• This quote comes from stanza 127 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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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

"The noblest question in the world is
What good may I do in it?"

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

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Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

"One can forgive a man for not standing by his opinions in the face of powerful desires, but one cannot forgive wickedness or any other culpable attitude."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book VII, section 2, Bekker page 1146a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book I, section 76) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56-117)

"Let it be clear to those inclined to admire unlawful acts that even under bad emperors men can be great, and that a sense of duty and discretion, if backed by ability and energy, can reach that peak of honour that many have stormed by precipitous paths, winning fame, without serving country, through an ostentatious death."

• From the Agricola (section 42) by Tacitus, translated by Harold Mattingly and edited by J. B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2009.

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (5th century BCE)

"If men regard the families of others as they regard their own, then who would raise up his family to overthrow that of another? It would be like overthrowing his own."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Universal Love, part III, section 16), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE)

"No matter how strong one's position may be, the important thing is that he should make benevolence and righteousness the basis of his conduct."

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 17) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"It is proportional requital that holds the state together; because people expect either to return evil for evil - and if they cannot, feel that they have lost their liberty - or good for good, and if this is impossible no exchange can take place; and it is exchange that holds them together."

•  From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book V, section v, Bekker page 1133a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

"Justice is only found among those whose mutual relations are controlled by law, and law is only found among those who are liable to injustice; for legal justice consists in distinguishing between what is just and what is unjust."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book V, section vi, Bekker page 1134a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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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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Confucius

Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE)

"The Good Man rests content with Goodness; he that is merely wise pursues Goodness in the belief that it pays to do so."

• The Analects of Confucius (Book IV, section 2) translated by Arthur Waley (Vintage Books, 1989). 

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"Justice is a sort of mean state, only not in the same way as the other virtues are, but because it aims at a mean, whereas injustice aims at the extremes."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book V, section v, Bekker page 1133b) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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The Didache

The Didache (anonymously-written Christian text, created around year 100)

"Every prophet who teaches the truth but fails to practice what he preaches is a false prophet."

• The anonymously-written Didache ("The Teaching," c. 100 CE), chapter 11, section 10, translated by Cyril C. Richardson (1970) 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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The Buddha

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

"As a bee flying from a flower,
having taken up its nectar,
does not harm its luster or fragrance,
so should the sage wander in the village."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 4), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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The Didache

The Didache (anonymously-written Christian text, created around year 100)

"Do not hate anybody; but reprove some, pray for others, and still others love more than your own life."

• The anonymously-written Didache ("The Teaching," c. 100 CE), chapter 2, section 7, translated by Cyril C. Richardson (1970) 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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Xenophon

Xenophon (c. 420-350 BCE)

"Remembering good rather than bad is the right thing to do; it is fair and moral, and it gives pleasure to all concerned."

• Anabasis Kyrou (Upcountry March of Cyrus, Book V, section 8) by Xenophon and translated by Robin Waterfield (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

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