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When asked what good the laws of Lycurgus had brought to Sparta, he replied, “Contempt of pleasure;” and in answer to the question how he acquired his great reputation for bravery, “By contemning death.” Agis II made the same answer when asked how a man could be always free.

— Agesilaus II Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887)

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More quotes by Agesilaus II

When asked what boys should learn, he replied, “That which they will use when men.”

Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887)

When he was invited to hear the man who imitated the nightingale, he declined, saying: "I have heard the bird herself."

Accepting an inferior seat at a public dancing, Agesilaus said, “It is not the places which grace men, but men the places.”

Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887)

From this course of life, we reap liberty.

Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887)

He was always declaring that justice was the first of the virtues; for valour was of no use unless justice attended it, and if all men should be just, there would be no need of valour.

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