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Whenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth — these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.

— Cyrus the Great In Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War (2006)

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More quotes by Cyrus the Great

You cannot be buried in obscurity: you are exposed upon a grand theater to the view of the world. If your actions are upright and benevolent, be assured they will augment your power and happiness.

O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore begrudge me this bit of earth that covers my bones.

Marduk, the great lord, established as his fate for me a magnanimous heart of one who loves Babylon, and I daily attended to his worship.

I have given leave to as many of the Jews that dwell in my country as please to return to their own country, and to rebuild their city, and to build the temple of God at Jerusalem on the same place where it was before.

Diversity in counsel, unity in command.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Cyrus the Great (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.