Thucydides Quotes
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Peace is an armistice in a war that is continuously going on.
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There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another; but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school.
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Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.
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They whose minds are least sensitive to calamity, and whose hands are most quick to meet it, are the greatest men and the greatest communities.
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The absence of romance from my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content. In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.
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But the prize for courage will surely be awarded most justly to those who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger.
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What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.
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Stories happen to those who tell them.
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So little trouble do men take in the search after truth; so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand.
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Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, he began at the moment that it broke out, believing that it would be a great war, and more memorable than any that had preceded it.
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Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can.
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Hatred also is short lived; but that which makes the splendor of the present and the glory of the future remains forever unforgotten here we bless your simplicity but do not envy your folly.
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Those who have experienced good and bad luck many times have every reason to be skeptical of successes
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Some legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.
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In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.
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Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.
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For men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.
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We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing
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You can now, if you choose, employ your present success to advantage, so as to keep what you have got and gain honour and reputation besides, and you can avoid the mistake of those who meet with an extraordinary piece of good fortune, and are led on by hope to grasp continually at something further, through having already succeeded without expecting it.
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Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.
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By day certainly the combatants have a clearer notion, though even then by no means of all that takes place, no one knowing much of anything that does not does not go on in his own immediate neighborhood; but in a night engagement ( and this was the only one that occurred between great armies during the war) how could anyone know anything for certain?
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In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours.
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Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.
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It must be thoroughly understood that war is a necessity, and that the more readily we accept it,the less will be the ardor of our opponents, and that out of the greatest dangers communities and individuals acquire the greatest glory.
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It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.
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In general, the men of lower intelligence won out. Afraid of their own shortcomings and of the intelligence of their opponents, so that they would not lose out in reasoned argument or be taken by surprise by their quick-witted opponents, they boldly moved into action. Their enemies,on the contrary, contemptuous and confident in their ability to anticipate, thought there was no need to take by action what they could win by their brains.
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The sufferings that fate inflicts on us should be borne with patience, what enemies inflict with manly courage.
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And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best.
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The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men.
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If you give way, you will instantly have to meet some greater demand, as having been frightened into obedience in the first instance; while a firm refusal will make them clearly understand that they must treat you more as equals.
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