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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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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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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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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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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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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Lao Tzu

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

"Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish."

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

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"In all relations with one's neighbours freedom is the result of being able to hold one's own, and as for these neighbours, who, not content with those close to them, are trying to spread their dominion far and wide, with them we must simply fight it out to the last."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book IV, section 92) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972). The quote comes from a speech that Thucydides wrote while in the character of Pagondus. 

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Livy

Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE)

"True moderation in the defence of political liberties is indeed a difficult thing: pretending to want fair shares for all, every man raises himself by depressing his neighbour; our anxiety to avoid oppression leads us to practise it ourselves; the injustice we repel, we visit in turn upon others, as if there were no choice except to do it or to suffer it."

• The History of Rome (Book 3, section 65) by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE)

"Those who attempt to vent their anger on innocent persons can never hope to live for long."

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji 107) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Livy

Livy (59 BCE-17 CE)

"Put it to the test..any time you please, and you will soon see that the self-seeking and cupidity of tyrants is no match for honest indignation fighting to throw off its chains."

• From a speech attributed to Marcus Horatius Barbatus by Livy in the History of Rome (Book 5, chapter 39), translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.

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Sima Qian

Sima Qian (145-90 BCE)

"The wise ruler is primarily concerned in perceiving the sources from which all changes arise, in understanding the keys to safety and peril, and in incorporating this knowledge in his governing of the nation, in order to forestall danger before it has taken form."

• Quote from an essay attributed to Xu Yue 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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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"For where there is nothing in common between ruler and ruled there is no friendship either, just as there is no justice."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book VIII, section 11, Bekker page 1161a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (c. 5th century BCE)

"Now let us try sounding the great bells, striking the rolling drums, strumming the zithers, blowing the pipes, and waving the shields and axes in the war dance. Does this do anything to rescue the world from chaos and restore it to order? I hardly think so."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Against Music, part I, section 32), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

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Mencius

Mencius (c. 372-289 BCE)

"If the services of the common people were used with a view to sparing them hardship, they would not complain even when hard driven."

• From The Mencius (Book VII, Part A, section 12) by Mencius, translated by D. C. Lau (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

"Owing to the helplessness and subservience of democracy in the hands of ambitious and commanding men, added to the facilities of modern locomotion and propaganda, many communities have been plunged back into a state of insecurity hitherto only associated with barbarism."

• From Sir Winston Churchill's "Europe's Peace" (February 5, 1937), in Winston S. Churchill Step By Step: Political Writings 1936-1939 (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015).

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (c. 5th century BCE)

"If a government is rich in worthy men, then the administration will be characterized by weight and substance; but if it is poor in such men, then the administration will be a paltry affair."

• From the Basic Writings of Mo Tzu (Honoring the Worthy, part I, section 8), translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1963).

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Alfred the Great

King Alfred the Great (c. 844-899)

"A man cannot work on any enterprise without resources. In the case of the king, the resources and tools with which to rule are that he have his land fully manned: he must have praying men, fighting men and working men."

• From Alfred the Great's loose and expanded translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, translated to modern English by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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