Drop, drop—in our sleep, upon the heart
Agamemnon. The above lines are from Edith Hamilton, trans., Three Greek Plays, p. 170 (1937). Other translations of this passage from Aeschylus vary. Robert F. Kennedy, delivering an extemporaneous eulogy to Martin Luther King, Jr., the evening of April 4, 1968, in Indianapolis, Indiana, said, "Aeschylus wrote: 'In our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.'" These words, lacking "own", have been used as one of the inscriptions at the Robert F. Kennedy gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery.
More quotes by Aeschylus
Only when man's life comes to its end in prosperity can one call that man happy.
It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
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If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.
'The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'
Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools.
Attribution
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Aeschylus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.