Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotuswas a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Cariaand lived in the fifth century BC, a contemporary of Socrates. He is widely referred to as "The Father of History"; he was the first historian known to have broken from Homeric tradition to treat historical subjects as a method of investigation—specifically, by collecting his materials systematically and critically, and then arranging them into a historiographic narrative. The Histories is the only work which he is known to have produced, a record...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionHistorian
kings long arms
The king's might is greater than human, and his arm is very long.
suffering doe presumption
God does not suffer presumption in anyone but himself.
happens ifs
If one is sufficiently lavish with time, everything possible happens.
happiness men dies
Call no man happy before he dies.
sports archer men
Bowmen bend their bows when they wish to shoot: unbrace them when the shooting is over. Were they kept always strung they would break and fail the archer in time of need. So it is with men. If they give themselves constantly to serious work, and never indulge awhile in pastime or sport, they lose their senses and become mad.
useless foolish given
There is nothing more foolish, nothing more given to outrage than a useless mob.
time drinking wine
They [the Persians] are accustomed to deliberate on matters of the highest moment when warm with wine; but whatever they in this situation may determine is again proposed to them on the morrow, in their cooler moments, by the person in whose house they had before assembled. If at this time also it meet their approbation, it is executed; otherwise it is rejected. Whatever also they discuss when sober, is always a second time examined after they have been drinking.
country men born
Soft men tend to be born from soft countries.
believe cases bounds
I am bound to tell what I am told, but not in every case to believe it.
men world examination
If someone were to put a proposition before men bidding them choose, after examination, the best customs in the world, each nation would certainly select its own
skills needs force
Force has no place where there is need of skill
home ideas would-be
But this I know: if all mankind were to take their troubles to market with the idea of exchanging them, anyone seeing what his neighbor's troubles were like would be glad to go home with his own.
country believe opportunity
If anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the set of beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably—after careful considerations of their relative merits—choose that of his own country. Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.
god jealous great-success
But I like not these great successes of yours; for I know how jealous are the gods.