"No man of sense can put himself and his soul under the control of names... You must consider courageously and thoroughly and not accept anything carelessly."

"If the very essence of knowledge changes, at the moment of the change to another essence of knowledge there would be no knowledge, and if it is always changing, there will always be no knowledge, and by this reasoning there will be neither anyone to know nor anything to be known. But if there is always that which knows and that which is known —if the beautiful, the good, and all the other verities exist— I do not see how there is any likeness between these conditions of which I am now speaking and flux or motion."

"Some say that the body is the "tomb" of the soul, their notion being that the soul is buried in the present life; and again, because by its means the soul gives any signs which it gives, it is for this reason also properly called "sign". But I think it most likely that the Orphic poets gave this name, with the idea that the soul is undergoing punishment for something; they think it has the body as an enclosure to keep it safe, like a prison, and this is, as the name itself denotes, the "safe" for the soul, until the penalty is paid, and not even a letter needs to be changed."

"I shall assume that your silence gives consent."

"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."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"A bad ending follows a bad beginning."

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

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

"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."

"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."

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

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

"Woman is woman's natural ally."

"The Bacchæ is a most glorious play. I doubt whether it be not superior to the Medea. It is often very obscure; and I am not sure that I fully understand its general scope. But, as a piece of language, it is hardly equalled in the world. And, whether it was intended to encourage or to discourage fanaticism, the picture of fanatical excitement which it exhibits has never been rivalled."

"The Orestes is one of the very finest plays in the Greek language. Among those of Euripides, I should place it next to the Medea and the Bacchæ. It has some very real faults; but it possesses that strong human interest which neither Æschylus nor Sophocles,—poets in many respects far superior to Euripides,—ever gave to their dramas."

"I could not bear Euripides at college. I now read my recantation. He has faults undoubtedly. But what a poet! The Medea, the Alcestis, the Troades, the Bacchæ, are alone sufficient to place him in the very first rank."

"Sophocles said that he drew men as they ought to be; Euripides, as they are."

"Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad."

"Circumstances rule men and not men circumstances."

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

"Account no man happy till he dies."

"I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right."

"ἁγὼ οὔτινι θύω πλὴν ἐμοὶ, θεοῖσι δ᾽ οὔ, καὶ τῇ μεγίστῃ γαστρὶ τῇδε δαιμόνων."

"Most cunning doctrine did he introduce, The truth concealing under speech untrue. The place he spoke of as the God's abode Was that whereby he could affright men most,— The place from which, he knew, both terrors came And easements unto men of toilsome life— To wit the vault above, wherein do dwell The lightnings, he beheld, and awesome claps Of thunder, and the starry face of heaven, Fair-spangled by that cunning craftsman Time,— Whence, too, the meteor's glowing mass doth speed And liquid rain descends upon the earth."

"Σοφὸς ἦν τις, ὃς τὸ θεῖον εἰσηγήσατο."