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Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

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Said between 300 and 201 BC

• “In any triangle the centre of gravity lies on the straight line joining any angle to the middle point of the opposite side.”

  Archimedes (287–212 BC) said by 212 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Superstition would seem to be simply cowardice in regard to the supernatural.”

  Theophrastus (371–287 BC) said by 287 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Characters, ch. 28 (16); translation from R. C. Jebb and J. E. Sandys (trans.), The Characters of Theophrastus (London: Macmillan, 1909), p. 139.

• “The area extending from the Himalayas in the north to the sea and a thousand yojanas wide from east to west is the area of operation of the King-Emperor.”

  Chanakya (375–283 BC) said by 283 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Chakravarti-kshetra as described by Kautilya: Arthashastra 9:1:17 (tr. L.N. Rangarajan), quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2001). Decolonizing the Hindu mind: Ideological development of Hindu revivalism. New Delhi: Rupa. p.457

• “«No hay camino real en matemáticas».”

  Euclides (334–285 BC) said by 285 BC at the latest wikiquote:es, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Weep not for me: suffering, as I do, unjustly, I am in a happier case than my murderers.”

  Agis IV (265–241 BC) said by 241 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: To one of his executioners, whom he noticed weeping, as quoted in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1844) by WIlliam Smith, p. 73.

• “Πρῶτος ἀριθμός ἐστιν ὁ μονάδι μόνῃ μετρούμενος.”

  Euclid (334–285 BC) said by 285 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “To his friends he said that he thought the man who feared gibes and jeers was more of a coward than the one who ran away from the enemy.”

  Fabius Maximus (died 203 BC) said by 203 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Ἀρχόμενος σέο Φοῖβε παλαιγενέων κλέα φωτῶν μνήσομαι οἳ Πόντοιο κατὰ στόμα καὶ διὰ πέτρας Κυανέας βασιλῆος ἐφημοσύνῃ Πελίαο χρύσειον μετὰ κῶας ἐύζυγον ἤλασαν Ἀργώ.”

  Apollonius of Rhodes (295–215 BC) said by 215 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Whatever good deeds have been done by me, those the people accept and those they follow. Therefore they have progressed and will continue to progress by being respectful to mother and father, respectful to elders, by courtesy to the aged and proper behavior towards Brahmans and ascetics, towards the poor and distressed, and even towards servants and employees.”

  Ashoka (304–232 BC) said by 232 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I have collected all the writings of the Empire and burnt those which were of no use.”

  Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC) said by 210 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As quoted in The Tyrants: 2500 Years of Absolute Power and Corruption (2006) by Clive Foss, p. 10, ISBN 1905204965

• “昔者莊周夢為蝴蝶，栩栩然蝴蝶也，自喻適志與，不知周也。俄然覺，則戚戚然周也。不知周之夢為蝴蝶與，蝴蝶之夢為周與？週與蝴蝶則必有分矣。此之謂物化。 (traditional)”

  Zhuangzi (369–288 BC) said by 288 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Ch. 2 (tr. Lin Yutang, 1942)

• “Ναυηγοῦ τάφος εἰμί: σὺ δὲ πλέε: καὶ γὰρ ὅθ᾽ ἡμεῖς ὠλλύμεθ᾽, αἱ λοιπαὶ νῆες ἐποντοπόρουν.”

  Theodoridas of Syracuse (301–261 BC) said by 261 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Palatine Anthology, bk. 7, no. 282 (ed. W. R. Paton, vol. 2, 1917)

• “世溷浊而嫉贤兮，好蔽美而称恶。”

  Qu Yuan (343–278 BC) said by 278 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “«Juramentos de amor no entran en oído de los dioses».”

  Calímaco de Cirene (306–240 BC) said by 240 BC at the latest wikiquote:es, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “«La memoria es la cartera de la vejez. Es necesario llenarla».”

  Apolonio de Rodas (295–215 BC) said by 215 BC at the latest wikiquote:es, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “οὐκ ἔστ᾿ ἄπιστον οὐδὲν ἐν θνητῷ βίῳ οὐδ᾿ ἂν γένοιτο· πολλὰ ποικίλλει χρόνος παράδοξα καὶ θαυμαστὰ καὶ ζώντων τρόποι.”

  Menander (341–291 BC) said by 291 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “He who outrages benevolence is called a ruffian: he who outrages righteousness is called a villain. I have heard of the cutting off of the villain Chow, but I have not heard of the putting of a ruler to death.”

  Mencius (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: 1B:8, In relation to righteousness and the overthrow of the tyrannous King Zhou of Shang, as translated by Sir Robert Kennaway Douglas, China (1904), p. 8

• “Proposition 6. The moon moves (in an orbit) lower than (that of) the sun, and, when it is halved, is distant less than a quadrant from the sun.”

  Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BC) said by 230 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “«El hombre tiene mil planes para sí mismo. El azar, sólo uno para cada uno».”

  Mencio (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote:es, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “«La felicidad y la virtud son dos hermanas que no se separan jamás».”

  Epicuro (342–270 BC) said by 270 BC at the latest wikiquote:es, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “«Todos los hombres son mis hijos y deseo su bienestar y felicidad en este mundo y el siguiente, lo que deseo para todos los hombres. Ustedes no entienden hasta qué punto deseo esto, y si alguno de ustedes lo entiende, no entienden la magnitud de mi deseo».”

  Aśoka (304–232 BC) said by 232 BC at the latest wikiquote:es, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “[Their] law ordains that no one among them shall, under any circumstances, be a slave, but that, enjoying freedom, they shall respect the equal right to it which all possess: for it is but fair and reasonable to institute laws which bind all equally, but allow property to bo unevenly distributed.”

  Megasthenes (351–291 BC) said by 291 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “ἴσον ἐστὶ τὸ κατ᾿ ἀρετὴν ζῆν τῷ κατ᾿ ἐμπειρίαν τῶν φύσει συμβαινόντων ζῆν.”

  Chrysippus (281–208 BC) said by 208 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: SVF III 4; Diogenes Laërtius, VII.87 (tr. R. D. Hicks, 1925)

• “Τὰν ἐκφυγοῦσαν ματρὸς ἐκ κόλπων, ἔτι ἀφρῷ τε μορμύρουσαν, εὐλεχῆ Κύπριν ἰδὼν Ἀπελλῆς, κάλλος ἱμερώτατον, οὐ γραπτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμψυχον ἐξεμάξατο. εὖ μὲν γὰρ ἄκραις χερσὶν ἐκθλίβει κόμαν, εὖ δ᾽ ὀμμάτων γαληνὸς ἐκλάμπει πόθος, καὶ μαζός, ἀκμῆς ἄγγελος, κυδωνιᾷ: αὐτὰ δ᾽ Ἀθάνα καὶ Διὸς συνευνέτις φάσουσιν ‘ὦ Ζεῦ, λειπόμεσθα τῇ κρίσει.’”

  Leonidas of Tarentum (320–260 BC) said by 260 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Anthologia Palatina, xvi, 182, "On the of ", as translated by Charles Whibley, Selections from the Greek Anthology (1895), p. 119.