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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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god featured in the poem, Hávamál)

“He should get up early, the man who has few workers,
and set about his work with thought;
much gets held up for the man sleeping in the morning;
wealth is half-won by activity.”

• This quote comes from stanza 59 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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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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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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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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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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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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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Never let a wicked man know
of any misfortune you suffer;
for from a wicked man you will never get
a good thought in return."

• This quote comes from stanza 117 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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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

"Avarice, envy, pride,
 Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all
 On fire."

• Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto VI), 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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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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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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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"No man is so good that he has no blemish,
nor so bad that he is good for nothing."

• This quote comes from stanza 133 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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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"Seldom does the loafing wolf snatch the ham,
nor a sleeping man victory."

• This quote comes from stanza 58 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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Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)

"The soul is by vile fear assail'd, which oft
So overcasts a man, that he recoils
From noblest resolution, like a beast
At some false semblance in the twilight gloom"

• Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto II), 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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Book of Psalms

The Book of Psalms (a multi-generational work likely finalized between the 6th and 3rd centuries BC)

"Whoever of you loves life
     and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
     and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
     seek peace and pursue it."

--Psalms 34: 12-14 (New International Version, 1978, 2011)




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The Buddha

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

"A comfort is virtue into old age.
A comfort is the establishment of conviction.
A comfort is the attainment of insightful knowledge.
Not acting destructively is a comfort."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 23), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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Odin (from Hávamál)

Odin (Norse god)

"The stupid man stays awake all night
and worries about everything;
he's tired out when the morning comes
and all's just as bad as it was."

• This quote comes from stanza 23 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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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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