Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)

"It's men that are untrue
And women, women ever blamed anew.
I think it a pretence that men profess
They hide behind a charge of faithlessness."

• The Canterbury Tales (The Merchant's Tale) by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated to modern English by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, 2003).

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Anna Komnene

Anna Komnene (c. 1083-1153)

"The opposition is strong when the whole body is welded together and of one mind; but let there be faction, and it splits up into many parts and becomes feebler, an easy prey to its enemies."

• The Alexiad (Book XIII, section 4) by Anna Komnene, translated by E.R.A. Sewter, (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (c. 1706-1790)

"Silence is not always a sign of wisdom but babbling is ever a mark of folly."

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

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Kjartan Olafsson (from the Laxdæla Saga)

Kjartan Olafsson (said to have lived c. 970-1003)

"If a man's got to die anyway, he might as well make a name for himself before it comes to that."

• Quote attributed to Kjartan Olafsson in the anonymously-written Laxdæla Saga (section 40), c. 13th century, translated by Keneva Kunz. New York: Penguin Classics, 2008.

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Tacitus

Tacitus (c. 56-117+)

"Robbery, butchery, rapine, these liars call 'empire': they create desolation and call it peace."

• Tacitus wrote this quote from the point of view of Calgacus, said to have been a tribal leader in Britannia. It is part of a larger pre-battle speech supposedly made by Calgacus before the Battle of Mons Graupius (83 CE), where he ultimately lost to the forces of Julius Agricola. Tacitus was Julius Agricola's son-in-law, and he wrote a eulogy/biography in his honor, which he simply titled the Agricola. This quote can be found in section 30 of that work. The translation quoted here was by Harold Mattingly and edited by J. B. Rives (Penguin Classics, 2009).

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Jia Yi

Jia Yi (c. 201-169 BCE)

"Now the dullard gains favor and fame;
the slanderers and the toady have their way.
The wise and sage they turn aside;
The upright they have toppled over."

• Excerpt of Jia Yi's poem, "A Lament for Qu Yuan" included in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji, 84) by Sima Qian. Translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993).

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE)

"Most people, in fact, will not take trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear."

• History of the Peloponnesian War (Book I, section 20) by Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner (Penguin Classics, 1972).

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