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Thucydides Quotes
Greece
Thucydides (or Thoukydides)(c. 472 BC – c. 400 BC) was an ancient Greek historian, author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. This work is widely regarded as a classic and represents the first work of its kind.
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65 quotes
They stood where they stood by the power of the sword.
The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.
The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.
In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.
Hatred also is short lived; but that which makes the splendor of the present and the glory of the future remains forever unforgotten
" war is a matter not so much of arms as of money,"
And the rarest dangers are those in which failure brings little loss and success the greatest advantage.
Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made.
Men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.
Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can.
Right or community of blood was not the bond of union between them, so much as interest or compulsion as the case may be.
Full of hopes beyond their power though not beyond their ambition.
Contempt for an assailant is best shown by bravery in action.
In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours.
The three greatest mistakes that can be made [are] lack of intelligence, lack of resolution, or lack of responsibility.
The real cause I consider to be the one which was formerly most kept out of sight. The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired the Lacedaemon, made war inevitable.
For the true author of the subjugation of a people is not so much the immediate agent, as the power which permits it having the means to prevent it.
I think the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion; haste usually goes hand in hand with folly, passion with coarseness and narrowness of mind.
Now the only sure basis of an alliance is for each party to be equally afraid of the other...
So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand.
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