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 400 and 301 BC
“εἰ δὲ μέλαινα, τί τοῦτο; καὶ ἄνθρακες· ἀλλ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐκείνους θάλψωμεν, λάμπους᾽ ὡς ῥόδεαι κάλυκες.”
Asclepiades of Samos (320–301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anthologia Palatina, bk. 5, no. 210 (ed. & tr. W. R. Paton, vol. i, 1916, p. 233)
“The speech is admirable, but the speaker is not to be trusted; for he has never been amid the blare of trumpets.”
Eudamidas I (401–301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech about a philosopher who had claimed that philosophers were the only good generals, Quoted in Plutarch Apophthegmata Laconica, translated by F. C. Babbitt, 1931, also quoted in Chambers Dictionary of Quotations, p…
“The Spartans do not ask how many the enemies are but where they are.”
Agis II (470–398 BC) said by 398 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sokrates pflegte zu den Göttern nur schlechthin um das Gute zu beten, als wüssten sie am besten, was gut ist." - Memorabilien I, 3”
Xenophon (431–354 BC) said by 354 BC at the latest wikiquote:de, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“τέχνη τύχην ἔστερξε καὶ τύχη τέχνην.”
Agathon (445–400 BC) said by 400 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frg. 6 TrGF (tr. R. W. Browne, 1850)
“Schuster, nicht über die Sandale hinaus!" - überliefert durch Plinius d.Ä., Naturgeschichte XXXV, 36, 85”
Apelles (370–306 BC) said by 306 BC at the latest wikiquote:de, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“οὐκ ἔνι δ᾿ αὐτὸν ἀργοῦντα οὐδὲ τοῖς φίλοις ἐπιτάττειν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τι ποιεῖν, μή τί γε δὴ τοῖς θεοῖς.”
Demosthenes (384–322 BC) said by 322 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: II.23 (tr. J. H. Vince, 1930)
“Since the women were extraordinary in appearance, the men, who were completely overcome with their fond feeling (for them), the women treated violently or killed during sexual pleasure. We captured only two of these. Their complexion was snow-white, (and) like nymphs their hair spread over their backs.”
Callisthenes (360–327 BC) said by 327 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: W. Boer, Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem (Meisenheim am Glan, 1973), p. 57; translation: L. Gunderson, Alexander’s Letter to Aristotle about India (Meisenheim am Glan, 1980), p. 156. Dated by Gunderson to between 308 …
“… dass jeder seines Glückes Schmied sei." - Überliefert von Sallust, 2. Brief an Caesar, I”
Appius Claudius Caecus (died 301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote:de, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ἄνθρωπ’, ἀπολεῖς με. τῶν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ποικίλης στοᾶς λογαρίων ἀναπεπλησμένος νοσεῖς· "ἀλλότριόν ἐσθ’ ὁ πλοῦτος ἀνθρώπῳ, πάχνη· σοφία δ’ ἴδιον, κρύσταλλος. οὐθεὶς πώποτε ταύτην λαβὼν ἀπώλεσ’.’ ὦ τάλας ἐγώ, οἵῳ μ’ ὁ δαίμων φιλοσόφῳ συνῴκισεν. ἐπαρίστερ’ ἔμαθες, ὦ πόνηρε, γράμματα· ἀντέστροφέν σου τὸν βίον τὰ βιβλία· πεφιλοσόφηκας γῇ τε κοὐρανῷ λαλῶν, οἷς οὐθέν ἐστιν ἐπιμελὲς τῶν λόγων.”
Theognetus (301–301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Φάσμα ἢ Φιλάργυρος (The Ghost or The Miser), in Athenaeus, bk. 3, sec. 63 · 104b–d (tr. C. D. Yonge, 1854)
“A general good at commanding troops is like one sitting in a leaking boat or lying under a burning roof. For there is no time for the wise to offer counsel nor the brave to be angry. All must come to grips with the enemy. And therefore it is said that of all the dangers in employing troops, timidity is the greatest and that the calamities which overtake an army arise from hesitation.”
Wu Qi (440–381 BC) said by 381 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wuzi ('The Word of Wu') ch. 2, sec. 2. Translated by Samuel b. Griffith, Sun Tzu: The Art of War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1963) appx. 1, p. 159
“συμμαχίας γὰρ Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων συνελθούσης, εἷς ὢν τούτων Ἀμύντας ὁ Φιλίππου πατὴρ καὶ πέμπων σύνεδρον καὶ τῆς καθ᾿ αὐτὸν ψήφου κύριος ὤν, ἐψηφίσατο Ἀμφίπολιν τὴν Ἀθηναίων συνεξαιρεῖν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων Ἀθηναίοις. καὶ τούτων τὸ κοινὸν δόγμα τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τοὺς ψηφισαμένους ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων γραμμάτων μάρτυρας παρεσχόμην.”
Aeschines (390–322 BC) said by 322 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“ὁ δὲ Κλείταρχός φησιν ἁμάξας τετρακύκλους δένδρα κομιζούσας τῶν μεγαλοφύλλων, ἐξ ὧν ἀπήρτηται γένη τετιθασσευμένων ὀρνέων, ὧν εὐφωνότατον μὲν εἴρηκε τὸν ὠρίωνα, λαμπρότατον δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὄψιν καὶ πλείστην ἔχοντα ποικιλίαν τὸν καλούμενον κατρέα· τὴν γὰρ ἰδέαν ταῷ μάλιστα ἐγγίζειν, τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν εἰκονογραφίαν παρ᾿ ἐκείνου ληπτέον.”
Cleitarchus (401–301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: F 20 FGrHist; Strabo, Geography, bk. XV, ch. i, sec. 69 (tr. H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer, 1854)
“ὑπὸ λίθῳ γὰρ παντί που χρὴ μὴ δάκῃ ῥήτωρ ἀθρεῖν.”
Aristophanes (445–385 BC) said by 385 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: : [We] must look beneath every stone, lest it conceal some orator ready to sting us. (tr. O'Neill 1938, Perseus)
“So, Damocles, since this life delights you, do you wish to taste it yourself and make trial of my fortune?”
Dionysius I of Syracuse (431–367 BC) said by 367 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Virtue is the health of the soul.”
Aristo of Chios (300–301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The unwritten laws of the gods were promulgated against depraved manners, inflicting a severe destiny and penalty on the disobedient; and these unwritten laws are the fathers and leaders of those that are written, and of the dogmas established by men.”
Archytas (430–345 BC) said by 345 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thomas Taylor (Tr.) Political fragments of Archytas, Charondas, Zaleucus, and other Ancient Pythagoreans, preserved by Stobæus; and also, Ethical Fragments of Pierocles (1822)
“λύπη μανίας ὁμότοιχος εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ.”
Antiphanes (408–334 BC) said by 334 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frg. 287 K.-A. (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)
“Listen, then. I say justice is nothing other than what is advantageous for the stronger.”
Thrasymachus (459–399 BC) said by 399 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a fire in the middle at the centre, which is the Vesta of the universe, the house of Jupiter, the mother of the Gods, and the basis coherence and measure of nature.”
Philolaus (470–390 BC) said by 390 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Johannes Stobaeus, Eclogues (5th-century CE) Phys. p. 51, Tr. Thomas Taylor, The Mystical Hymns of Orpheus (1824) p.156.
“Regieren ist nichts für einen kultivierten oder ehrenhaften Mann." - Die Ritter / Demosthenes”
Aristophanes (445–385 BC) said by 385 BC at the latest wikiquote:de, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Οὐκ εἶναί φησιν οὐδέν· εἰ δ᾿ ἔστιν, ἄγνωστον εἶναι· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστι καὶ γνωστόν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ δηλωτὸν ἄλλοις.”
Gorgias (485–375 BC) said by 375 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gorgias maintains first, that nothing exists; secondly, that if anything exists it is unknowable; and thirdly, that if anything exists and is knowable, it cannot be demonstrated to others. (tr. W. S. Hett, 1936)
“Dem Stärksten." - Letzte Worte zu seinen Offizieren, die fragten, wem er sein Reich hinterlassen werde, 10. Juni 323 v.Chr.”
Alexander der Große (356–323 BC) said by 323 BC at the latest wikiquote:de, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Δημοσθένης ἐμὲ βούλεται διορθοῦν, ἡ ὗς τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν.”
Demades (381–317 BC) said by 317 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Plutarch, Moralia, Praecepta gerendae reipublicae (tr. H. N. Fowler, 1936). Plutarch also quotes Demosthenes' reply, "Yes, your Athena was caught in adultery last year!" Cited by Erasmus, Adagia, 1, 1, 40: Tritissimu…