The Buddha

The Buddha (lived c. 6th-5th century BCE, this quote was recorded by the 3rd century BCE)

"In this world
hostilities are never
appeased by hostility.
But by the absence of hostility
are they appeased.
This is an interminable truth."

• The Dhammapada (Verses on the Way, Chapter 1), recorded in the 3rd century BCE. Translation by Glenn Wallis, 2004.

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The Gospel of Truth (from the Nag Hammadi Library)

The Gospel of Truth (Gnostic Christian text written before the year 180 and rediscovered in the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945) 

"In time Unity will perfect the spaces. It is within Unity that each one will attain himself; within knowledge he will purify himself from multiplicity into Unity, consuming matter within himself like fire, and darkness by light, death by life."

• From "The Gospel of Truth" (c. 180 or older), rediscovered in the Nag Hammadi Library c. 1945, translated by Harold W. Altridge and George W. Macroe. Lieden: E. J. Brill, 1985.

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Mo Tzu

Mo Tzu (theologian and philosopher, 5th century BCE)

"Man' life on earth is as brief as the passing of a team of horses glimpsed through a crack in the wall."

• 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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General Curtis E. LeMay

General Curtis LeMay (c. 1906-1990)

"I'd rather be active, doing almost any demanding interesting thing in the world, than participating in social activities."

• Gen. LeMay wrote this quote bemoaning the social responsibilities of his position as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in his autobiographical work, Mission with LeMay: My Story, by Curtis LeMay and MacKinlay Kantor (Doubleday & Company, 1965).

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Aristotle

Aristotle (c. 384-322 BCE)

"Without exchange there would be no association, without equality there would be no exhange, without commensurability there would be no equality."

• 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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Arrian

Arrian (c. 90-173+)

"Many things which reason rejects acquire some colour of probability once you bring a god into the story."

• The Campaigns of Alexander (Book 7) by Arrian, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt and revised by J. Hamilton. New York; Penguin Classics, 1971.

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Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (sayings recorded between 6th and 3rd century BCE)

"He who knows
Neither self
Nor enemy
Will fail
In every battle."

• Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Chapter Three), translated by John Minford (Penguin Classics edition, 2009).

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