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He showed the citizens in arms to one who asked why Sparta had no walls, with the words, “These are the walls of Sparta.” He used to say that “cities should be walled with the courage of the inhabitants.”

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