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

“Egli elargiva la sua dottrina con la mano destra, ma coloro che lo ascoltavano la accolsero con la sinistra.”
Teodoro l'Ateo (340–250 BC) said by 250 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, 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.
“All the good are friends of one another.”
Zeno of Citium (334–263 BC) said by 263 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“La gloria di Gerone | in alto sollevassero gli aedi | oltre il mare di Scizia e fin là dove, | legato con l'asfalto il vasto muro, | regnava Semiramide! Io son uno, | ma le figlie di Zeus ne prediligono | molti altri ancora e sia gradito a tutti | celebrare la sicula Aretusa | e i popoli e Gerone bellicoso. (da Le Càriti o Gerone)”
Teocrito (401–260 BC) said by 260 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Alle vergini spose in odio è forse | Venere? Forse a' genitor la gioia | froderanno per false lagrimette | di che bagnan del talamo le soglie | dirottamente? Esse non veri allora, | se me giovin gli Dei, gemono guai. (Fr. 110 Pf., trad. Ugo Foscolo)”
Callimaco (306–240 BC) said by 240 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, 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
“If a king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic. If he is reckless, they will not only be reckless likewise, but also eat into his works. Besides, a reckless king will easily fall into the hands of his enemies. Hence the king shall ever be wakeful.”
Chanakya (375–283 BC) said by 283 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“εὐσεβέων παίδεσσι τὰ λώια, δυσσεβέων δ᾿ οὔ.”
Theocritus (401–260 BC) said by 260 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: XXVI.32 (tr. C. S. Calverley, 1869)
“I primi che forgiarono la rovinosa spada | che si porta in viaggio per primi si cibarono | dei buoi aratori.”
Arato di Soli (315–240 BC) said by 240 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι.”
Euclid (334–285 BC) said by 285 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Ευκλείδης (el)
“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
“Nessuna persona onesta si è mai arricchita in breve tempo.”
Menandro (341–291 BC) said by 291 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Quae ego in theatro hic meis probavi plausibus Ea non audere quemquam regem rumpere, quanto libertatem hanc hic superat servitus.”
Gnaeus Naevius (275–201 BC) said by 201 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: W. Y. Sellar, The Roman Poets of the Republic, 3rd ed. (1905), ch. 3, p. 57: note 20:
“O felice giorno. (citato in Plutarco, Vita di Cleomene, 30, 2; traduzione di Marcello Adriani, 1864)”
Antigono III Dosone (263–221 BC) said by 221 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sei malridotto, per Zeus, sei l'ombra di uno scricciolo: | ti sei "filippidato"! (da La donna che beve la mandragora, frammento conservato da Ateneo di Naucrati in Deipnosofisti, XII, 552 e-553 a; traduzione in Luciano Canfora, I deipnosofisti: Libri XII-XV, Salerno, 2001, ISBN 978-88-8402-355-1)”
Alessi (372–270 BC) said by 270 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“εὐδαιμονία τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν υἱὸς νοῦν ἔχων, ἀλλὰ θυγάτηρ κτῆμ᾿ ἐστὶν ἐργῶδες πατρί.”
Menander (341–291 BC) said by 291 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frg. 58 K.-A., Anepsioi (tr. C. T. Ramage, 1864)
“惟夫党人之偷乐兮，路幽昧以险隘。”
Qu Yuan (343–278 BC) said by 278 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Guidami, o Giove, e tu, Destino, al termine, | qual esso sia, che d'assegnarmi piacquevi. | Seguirò pronto, ché se poi m'indugio, | per esser vile, pur dovrò raggiungervi.”
Cleante (331–232 BC) said by 232 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Equal weights at equal distances are in equilibrium and equal weights at unequal distances are not in equilibrium but incline towards the weight which is at the greater distance.”
Archimedes (287–212 BC) said by 212 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Il matrimonio è il grande dovere dell'uomo. (V, 2)”
Mencio (372–289 BC) said by 289 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“sapientem nulla re egere et tamen multis illi rebus opus esse. contra stulto nulla re opus est, nulla enim re uti scit, sed omnibus eget.”
Chrysippus (281–208 BC) said by 208 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: SVF III 674; Seneca, Moral Epistles, 9.14 (tr. R. M. Gummere, 1918)
“La straordinaria popolarità di Euclide riposa in massima parte sopra i suoi Elementi, opera che per lunghi secoli venne scelta (e ancora non cessò di esserlo) come libro di testo geometrico nelle più reputate scuole; opera che, per numero di edizioni e traduzioni, può certamente competere con la Divina Commedia ed è vinta forse soltanto dalla Sacra Bibbia. (Gino Loria)”
Euclide (334–285 BC) said by 285 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Qui nessun animale può essere ucciso... Nella cucina della sacra e graziosa maestà del re prima si uccidevano ogni giorno molte migliaia di animali per farne brodi. Ma ora, nel momento della promulgazione di questo pio editto, si uccidono soltanto tre animali, due pavoni e una gazzella, e la gazzella non sempre. In avvenire non saranno uccisi nemmeno questi tre animali...”
Ashoka (304–232 BC) said by 232 BC at the latest wikiquote:it, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Unseasonable man is one who will go up to a busy person, and open his heart to him. He will serenade his mistress when she has a fever. He will address himself to a man who has been cast in a surety-suit, and request him to become his security. He will come to give evidence when the trial is over.”
Theophrastus (371–287 BC) said by 287 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Characters, ch. 9 (12); translation from R. C. Jebb and J. E. Sandys (trans.), The Characters of Theophrastus (London: Macmillan, 1909), p. 75.