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And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens.

Thucydides

An avowal of poverty is no disgrace to any man; to make no effort to escape it is indeed disgraceful.
THUCYDIDES

Effort Escape Grace Man Poverty
For so remarkably perverse is the nature of man that he despises whoever courts him, and admires whoever will not bend before him.
THUCYDIDES

Admire Court Himself Man Nature Remark
He who graduates the harshest school, succeeds.
THUCYDIDES

Difficult Graduation Himself School Success
The cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising from greed and ambition; and from these passions proceeded the violence of parties once engaged in contention.
THUCYDIDES

Ambition Content Engagement Evil Lust Party Power Rise Violence
When will there be justice in Athens? There will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are.
THUCYDIDES

Angry Hurt Injury Justice
Mankind apparently find it easier to drive away adversity than to retain prosperity.
THUCYDIDES

Drive Easy Finding Kind Man Prosperity
I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.
THUCYDIDES

Blame Greatness Myself Ready Rule Submit
The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.
THUCYDIDES

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

Angry Break Reason See War
It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well, and look up to those who make no concessions.
THUCYDIDES

Concession Human Nature People Rule Treat
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
Knowledge without understanding is useless.
THUCYDIDES

Knowledge Understand Wasted
It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.
THUCYDIDES

Affair Brilliant Charge Expectation Man Misfortune
So little trouble do men take in the search after truth; so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand.
THUCYDIDES

Acceptance Hands Man Search Trouble Truth
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
What made the war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.
THUCYDIDES

Fear Growth Reason War

And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens.

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And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens.

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