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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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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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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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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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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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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Hesiod

Hesiod (8th century BCE)

"Full of ills is the earth, and full the sea."

• From Hesiod's Works and Days (approximately line 100, translated by M. L. West (Oxford World Classics, 1988, 1999, 2008).

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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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Xenophon

Xenophon (c. 420-350 BCE)

"Everything everywhere is subject to the gods and no matter where or what one is, the gods are in control."

• Anabasis Kyrou (Upcountry March of Cyrus, Book II, section 5) by Xenophon and translated by Robin Waterfield (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

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Plutarch

Plutarch (c. 50-120)

"So very difficult a matter is it to trace and find out the truth of any thing by history, when, on the one hand, those who afterwords write it find long periods of time intercepting their view, and, on the other hand, the contemporary records of any actions and lives, partly through envy and ill-will, partly through favor and flattery, pervert and distort truth."

• Plutarch in Parallel Lives (Life of Pericles, 13.12). 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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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"To dislodge by argument habits long embedded in the character is a difficult if not impossible task."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book X, section 9, Bekker page 1179b) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"Life is a desirable thing, especially for the good, because for them existence is good and pleasant (since they feel pleasure in the consciousness of what is in itself good)."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book XI, section 9, Bekker page 1170b) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Pericles

Pericles (c. 495-429 BCE)

"A general ought not only to have clean hands, but also clean eyes."

• Quote attributed to Pericles by Plutarch in Parallel Lives (Life of Pericles, 8.5). 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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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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Homer

Homer (flourished c. 700 BCE)

"Are we to stir up evil war again, with all the sound and fury of battle, or shall we make peace between the two sides?"

• From The Iliad (Book 4, approx. line 10) by Homer, translated by E. V. Rieu and revised by Peter Jones (Penguin Classics, 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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Thucydides

Thucydides (460-400 BCE)

"There is no need to talk about what happened long ago: there our evidence would be that of hearsay rather than that of eyewitnesses amongst our audience."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book I, section 73) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

"The wish for friendship develops rapidly, but friendship does not."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book VIII, section 3, Bekker page 1156b) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"Utility is an impermanent thing: it changes according to circumstances."

• From The Nicomachean Ethics (Book VIII, section 3, Bekker page 1156a) by Aristotle, translated by J. A. K. Thomson (Penguin Classics, 2004).

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