All Quotes

"Δεινὸν σοφιστὴν εἶπας, ὅστις εὖ φρονεῖν τοὺς μὴ φρονοῦντας δυνατός ἐστ᾽ ἀναγκάσαι."

"Ὅταν δὲ σὺ στένῃς, ἡμᾶς παρόντας χρή σε νουθετεῖν φίλα· ἐπικουρίαι γὰρ αἵδε τοῖς φίλοις καλαί."

"— Δεινὸν οἱ πολλοί, κακούργους ὅταν ἔχωσι προστάτας. — Ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν χρηστοὺς λάβωσι, χρηστὰ βουλεύουσ᾽ ἀεί."

"Ὅταν γὰρ ἡδὺς τοῖς λόγοις, φρονῶν κακῶς πείθῃ τὸ πλῆθος, τῇ πόλει κακὸν μέγα."

"Ἓν μὲν μέγιστον, οὐκ ἔχει παρρησίαν."

"Ἁπλοῦς ὁ μῦθος τῆς ἀληθείας ἔφυ, κοὐ ποικίλων δεῖ τἄνδιχ᾽ ἑρμηνευμάτων"

"But cleverness is not wisdom, nor is the thinking on things unfit for mortals."

"Dionysus: He who believes needs no explanation. Pentheus: What's the worth in believing worthless things? Dionysus: Much worth, but not worth telling you, it seems."

"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish."

"Slow but sure moves the might of the gods."

"χρηστοῖσι δούλοις συμφορὰ τὰ δεσποτῶν."

"Humility, a sense of reverence before the sons of heaven — of all the prizes that a mortal man might win, these, I say, are wisest; these are best."

"The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate."

"κακὸν γυναῖκα πρὸς νέαν ζεῦξαι νέον· μακρὰ γὰρ ἰσχὺς μᾶλλον ἀρσένων μένει, θήλεια δ' ἥβη θᾶσσον ἐκλείπει δέμας."

"A bad beginning makes a bad ending."

"Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks."

"Φεῦ φεῦ, παλαιὸς αἶνος ὡς καλῶς ἔχει· γέροντες οὐδέν ἐσμεν ἄλλο πλὴν ψόφος καὶ σχῆμ', ὀνείρων δ᾽ ἕρπομεν μιμήματα· νοῦς δ᾽ οὐκ ἔνεστιν, οἰόμεσθα δ᾽ εὐ φρονεῖν."

"The nobly born must nobly meet his fate."

"Waste not fresh tears over old griefs."

"Ἡδύ τοι σωθέντα μεμνῆσθαι πόνων."

"ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς ἔρωτα πίπτουσιν βροτῶν ἐσθλῶν ὅταν τύχωσι τῶν ἐρωμένων οὐκ ἔσθ' ὁποίας λείπεται τῆς ἡδονῆς."

"Woman is woman's natural ally."

"Man's best possession is a sympathetic wife."

"Ignorance of one's misfortunes is clear gain."

"Events will take their course, it is no good of being angry at them; he is happiest who wisely turns them to the best account."

"Φησίν τις εἶναι δῆτ᾽ ἐν οὐρανῷ θεούς; οὐκ εἰσίν, οὐκ εἴσ᾽, εἴ τις ἀνθρώπων θέλει μὴ τῷ παλαιῷ μῶρος ὢν χρῆσθαι λόγῳ. σκέψασθε δ᾽ αὐτοί, μὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς λόγοις γνώμην ἔχοντες. φήμ᾽ ἐγὼ τυραννίδα κτείνειν τε πλείστους κτημάτων τ᾿ ἀποστερεῖν ὅρκους τε παραβαίνοντας ἐκπορθεῖν πόλεις· καὶ ταῦτα δρῶντες μᾶλλόν εἰσ᾽ εὐδαίμονες. τῶν εὐσεβούντων ἡσυχῇ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν. πόλεις τε μικρὰς οἶδα τιμώσας θεούς, αἳ μειζόνων κλύουσι δυσσεβεστέρων λόγχης ἀριθμῷ πλείονος κρατούμεναι. οἶμαι δ᾽ ἂν ὑμᾶς, εἴ τις ἀργὸς ὢν θεοῖς εὔχοιτο καὶ μὴ χειρὶ συλλέγοι βίον, μαθεῖν ἂν ὡς οὐκ εἰσίν. αἱ δ᾽ εὐπραξίαι τὰ θεῖα πυργοῦσ᾽ αἱ κακαί τε συμφοραί."

"Try first thyself, and after call in God; For to the worker God himself lends aid."

"Toil, says the proverb, is the sire of fame."

"A bad ending follows a bad beginning."

"Cowards do not count in battle; they are there, but not in it."

"A woman should be good for everything at home, but abroad good for nothing."

"Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world."

"Every man is like the company he is wont to keep."

"Ὦ φιλόζωοι βροτοὶ, οἱ τὴν ἐπιστείχουσαν ἡμέραν ἰδεῖν οὕτως ἔρως βροτοῖσιν ἐγκεῖται βίου"

"Τίς δ᾽ οἶδεν εἰ ζῆν τοῦθ᾽ ὁ κέκληται θανεῖν, τὸ ζῆν δὲ θνῄσκειν ἐστί"

"Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future."

"The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children."

"Si j'ai bien compris, vous êtes en train de me dire: à la prochaine fois."

"Παλαιὰ καινῶν λείπεται κηδευμάτων."

"Mais j'ai confiance qu'un jour... y'a un rendez-vous normal avec l'Histoire que le Québec tiendra, et j'ai confiance qu'on sera là, ensemble, pour y assister."

"Ἐγὼ καὶ διὰ μούσας καὶ μετάρσιος ᾖξα, καὶ πλείστων ἁψάμενος λόγων κρεῖσσον οὐδὲν Ἀνάγκας."

"Χρόνος μαλάξει, νῦν δ᾽ ἔθ᾽ ἡβάσκει, κακόν."

"The Locarno pacts offer only the insubstantial semblance of a guarantee; they are an illusion calculated to mislead easily satisfied consciences and to lull more vigilant minds to sleep. In their inadequacy lies their danger. The spirit of Locarno itself is positively injurious to the interests of our country."

"Unquestionably and naturally, in Germany, as everywhere else, the workmen, peasants, and lower middle class are true pacifists, and view the possibilities of new butcheries with horror. But, on the other hand, we must remember that all the sons of the governing classes, all the young men who attend the high schools, the colleges, and universities of Germany, find there Nationalist or Populist professors who continually din into their ears the Deutschland über Alles. In this lies the great danger to peace, a danger of which the genuine pacifists are well aware. Later on, in a few years, it will be these same young men who will direct the destinies of Germany. Are we not justified in fearing that the mass of the German people, workmen, peasants, lower middle class, faithful to the impulses of its gregarious nature, might allow itself, as in 1914, to be rushed into the whirl of a “fresh and frolicsome war”?"

"In truth, the bulk of the German nation, the Reich Government (so well personified in the circumstances by the late Herr Stresemann) is not at all eager to begin a new struggle with France. It is perfectly well aware—and the perpetual mutilations of the Treaty of Versailles have shown that it is right—that with patience, a great deal of boldness, and some cleverness, it will easily manage to obtain, from the weak and irresponsible Governments that have been succeeding one another in France since 1920, the almost complete annulment of the Treaty. During this time—that is to say, while Germany is preparing, that is, arming—what is the French Army doing? It is quite simple: it is disarming."

"The great mistake made by the Governments that have succeeded one another in France since 1920 is to have dandled our people from concession to concession without making them understand, first of all, that a nation with a past like ours could not accept peace at any price—that is to say, at the cost of compromising their honour; secondly, that with neighbours like the Germans this peace could only be ensured by making the necessary sacrifices. Those means are the same since the world began and can be summed up in the words, Be strong. Germany remains faithful to this truth. Perhaps Germany does want peace, but this kind of peace will wipe out the last traces of her defeat. That is why she is preparing. The following figures are more eloquent than any possible dissertation. In 1928 France spent six milliards of francs on her military forces: Germany spent eight. Germany goes on arming: France goes on disarming. For what results?"

"My education was built up upon ruthlessly hard-and-fast ideas crowned by a patriotism that nothing could shake. In the insurrection of Vendée, allied with the foreigner against Revolutionary France, the two qualities of patriot and republican were so merged in one another that the Chouans called us patauds, an insult that my forbears were proud of. The fatherland was, and could only be, everybody's home, where energies were developed in common. To renounce one's country had neither sense nor meaning. You might as well have expected the child to want to leave the shelter of its mother's wing. The home, the country, this was no theory; it was a natural phenomenon that had been realized from the very earliest ages of mankind. Animals had a temporary home in their lairs, man a permanent one in his country."

"Is it not fairly clear that the very idea of a fatherland, which is still so potent among us, has lost some of its native strength in the hearts of those who have deliberately allowed themselves to be despoiled of that French pride so essential if the fatherland is to live and not die?"

"I ask myself whether there is to be found a single Frenchman who could admit that we should refrain from exacting from the Germans their obligations, the burden of which is about to be transferred to a victor ruined by the systematic plunderings of the conquered invader. When I ask for an explanation I am generally met with a shrug of the shoulders, accusations against the Press, Parliament, the politicians, and an assurance that after a few more concessions every one will be satisfied. As a result of which we give way to-day, after having given way yesterday, to the demands of Germany, who is only awaiting the additional last concessions to render an account that will never be the final one until we are completely despoiled."

"It is Germany, guilty of the greatest crime in the history of Europe, a crime premeditated, prepared, and carried out in broad daylight, who presents herself vanquished at the tribunal of Europe and the civilized world, no longer to give an account but to demand one. A lie sets her free. A lie puts us in the dock. And our policy of incoherency run wild is about to lay itself open to processes of dismemberment that will reduce the Treaty of Versailles to a state of nullity. Every day will see Germany requesting, demanding, to have her burdens lightened in order to heap them on France, already drained to the last drop of her blood, and every day something of the burden of defeat will be transferred from Germany's shoulders to what still exists of France by the good graces of the Treaty's executors."