Many things shall mortals learn by seeing; but, before he sees, no man may read the future, or his fate.
γνῶναι· πρὶν ἰδεῖν δ᾿ οὐδεὶς μάντις
τῶν μελλόντων ὅ τι πράξει.
Original text (Ancient Greek)
Original text (Ancient Greek)
It is no weakness for the wisest man
To learn when he is wrong.
A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers should one day suffer reverse.
When the mind hath once become a parent of evil, it teaches men to be evil thenceforth.
I well believe it, to unwilling ears;None love the messenger who brings bad news.
Evil seems good, soon or late, to him whose mind the god draws to mischief.
We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.
“Destiny,” said John. “The ghastliest word a man can speak.”
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Sophocles (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.