It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not desire.
THUCYDIDESWhen tremendous dangers are involved, no one can be blamed for looking to his own interest.
More Thucydides Quotes
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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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The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.
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For so remarkably perverse is the nature of man that he despises whoever courts him, and admires whoever will not bend before him.
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When tremendous dangers are involved, no one can be blamed for looking to his own interest.
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We secure our friends not by accepting favours but by doing them.
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Hope, danger’s comforter.
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Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage.
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And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens.
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He passes through life most securely who has least reason to reproach himself with complaisance toward his enemies.
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Human nature is the one constant through human history. It is always there.
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Remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action.
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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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The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men.
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Men’s indignation, it seems, is more exited by legal wrong than by violent wrong; the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.
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Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.
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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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For they had learned that true safety was to be found in long previous training, and not in eloquent exhortations uttered when they were going into action.
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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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The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.
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I dread our own mistakes more than the enemy’s intentions.
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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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For men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them.
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It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position.
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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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Now the only sure basis of an alliance is for each party to be equally afraid of the other.
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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.
THUCYDIDES