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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 400 and 301 BC

• “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)

• “مرض عجیب را دوای عجیب باید.”

  بقراط (460–370 BC) said by 370 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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…

• “τοῦ μὲν ἡδίστου ἀκροάματος, ἐπαίνου, οὔποτε σπανίζετε.”

  Xenophon (431–354 BC) said by 354 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: You are incessantly entertained with the most delightful of all music, that of your own praises. (tr. R. Graves, 1832)

• “با کم‌خواهی، انسان فقیر خود را ثروتمند می‌کند.”

  دموکریت (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Cimmerians inhabit subterranean dwellings, which they call argillas.”

  Ephorus (400–330 BC) said by 330 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Quoted in Strabo, v, p. 375; reported in Jules Michelet, History of France, tr. G. H. Smith (New York, 1882), vol. i, p. 35

• “Ἀρίστων ὁ Χῖος ὁ Φάλανθος, ἐπικαλούμενος Σειρήν, τέλος ἔφησεν εἶναι τὸ ἀδιαφόρως ἔχοντα ζῆν πρὸς τὰ μεταξὺ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας μηδ᾿ ἡντινοῦν ἐν αὐτοῖς παραλλαγὴν ἀπολείποντα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπίσης ἐπὶ πάντων ἔχοντα· εἶναι γὰρ ὅμοιον τὸν σοφὸν τῷ ἀγαθῷ ὑποκριτῇ, ὃς ἄν τε Θερσίτου ἄν τε Ἀγαμέμνονος πρόσωπον ἀναλάβῃ, ἑκάτερον ὑποκρινεῖται προσηκόντως.”

  Aristo of Chios (300–301 BC) said by 301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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

• “There is no work so mean, but it would amply serve me to furnish me with sustenance.”

  Antisthenes (445–365 BC) said by 365 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “δὶς παῖδες οἱ γέροντες.”

  Aristophanes (445–385 BC) said by 385 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Clouds, line 1417

• “«جاه‌طلبان، نسبت به کسانی که از بلندپروازی بیزارند، به حسادت نزدیک‌ترند.»”

  ارسطو (384–322 BC) said by 322 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, 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)

• “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)

• “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

• “کمی دائمی بهتر از بسیاری از کسانی است که قطع می شوند.”

  آریستوفان (445–385 BC) said by 385 BC at the latest wikiquote:fa, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἀρχόντων ἔργον ἐστὶ τοὺς ἀρχομένους ταῖς αὑτῶν ἐπιμελείαις ποιεῖν εὐδαιμονεστέρους.”

  Isocrates (436–338 BC) said by 338 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: VIII.91 (tr. T. B. Harbottle, 1897)

• “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

• “Your ancestors came to Macedonia and the rest of Hellas [Greece] and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed leader of the Greeks, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you.”

  Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) said by 323 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Hui Shih was a man of many devices and his writings would fill five carriages. But his doctrines were jumbled and perverse and his words wide of the mark. His way of dealing with things may be seen from these sayings:”

  Hui Shi (370–310 BC) said by 310 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Not from fear but from a sense of duty refrain from your sins.”

  Democritus (461–361 BC) said by 361 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “ἄνδρα δὲ καὶ γυναῖκα καὶ λόγον καὶ ἔργον καὶ πόλιν καὶ πρᾶγμα χρὴ τὸ μὲν ἄξιον ἐπαίνου ἐπαίνῳ τιμᾶν, τῷ δὲ ἀναξίῳ μῶμον ἐπιθεῖναι· ἴση γὰρ ἁμαρτία καὶ ἀμαθία μέμφεσθαί τε τὰ ἐπαινετὰ καὶ ἐπαινεῖν τὰ μωμητά.”

  Gorgias (485–375 BC) said by 375 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Man and woman and speech and deed and city and object should be honored with praise if praiseworthy and incur blame if unworthy, for it is an equal error and mistake to blame the praisable and to praise the blamable. (t…

• “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)