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Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

Thucydides

Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.
THUCYDIDES

Courage Deep Freedom Happiness
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

Attention Deserve Enjoyment Human Justice People Praise Situation
The sufferings that fate inflicts on us should be borne with patience, what enemies inflict with manly courage.
THUCYDIDES

Born Courage Fate Man Patience Suffering
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.
THUCYDIDES

Behavior Best Equality Success Superior Treat
Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris.
THUCYDIDES

Action Goodness Opportunity Wealth
Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war.
THUCYDIDES

Brave Consequence Freedom Happiness Light Serious War
We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.
THUCYDIDES

Himself Man Remember School Training
The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.
THUCYDIDES

Acceptance Strong Weakness
People get into the habit of entrusting the things they desire to wishful thinking, and subjecting things they don’t desire to exhaustive thinking.
THUCYDIDES

Desire Habit People Subject Thinking Trust
It is a common mistake in going to war to begin at the wrong end, to act first, and wait for disasters to discuss the matter.
THUCYDIDES

Beginning Disaster Discussion Mistake War
We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.
THUCYDIDES

Beautiful Cultivate Loss Lover Man Simplicity
You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely.
THUCYDIDES

Commitment Crime Fake Punishment
What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.
THUCYDIDES

Fear Growth Reason War
When one is deprived of ones liberty, one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the shackles on as the one who had the power to prevent him, but did not use it.
THUCYDIDES

Blame Himself Liberty Power Prevent Right
Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
THUCYDIDES

Equality Power Question Right Strong Suffering Weakness World
He who graduates the harshest school, succeeds.
THUCYDIDES

Difficult Graduation Himself School Success
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.
THUCYDIDES

Fact Finding Hear People Story Trouble Truth
I think the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion; haste usaully goes hand in hand with folly, passion with coarseness and narrowness of mind.
THUCYDIDES

Goodness Hands Mindset Passion Thinking
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.
THUCYDIDES

Essay Moments Myself Possession Time Win Writing
When a man finds a conclusion agreeable, he accepts it without argument, but when he finds it disagreeable, he will bring against it all the forces of logic and reason.
THUCYDIDES

Agreement Finding Force Logic Man Reason
I dread our own mistakes more than the enemy’s intentions.
THUCYDIDES

Enemy Intention Mistake Myself
knowing the secret of happiness to be freedom, and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy’s onset.
THUCYDIDES

Brave Enemy Freedom Happiness Heart Secret
Don’t confuse meaning with truth.
THUCYDIDES

Confusion Meaning One Liner Truth
Remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action.
THUCYDIDES

Action Courage Greatness Man Remember Win
It is men who make a city, not walls or ships.
THUCYDIDES

Infrastructure Man Wall
Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared.
THUCYDIDES

Better Expensive Hope Item Preparation Sense
The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.
THUCYDIDES

Alarm Growth Power War

Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

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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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Popular Authors

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