Thucydides
Thucydides
Thucydideswas an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionHistorian
winning moments applause
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
yield succeed certain
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.
passion thinking hands
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.
long desire use
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
revenge adversity men
Indeed men too often take upon themselves in the prosecution of their revenge to set the example of doing away with those general laws to which all can look for salvation in adversity, instead of allowing them to subsist against the day of danger when their aid may be required
school needs hardest
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.
war matter arms
War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.
taken men winning
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.
sorry lifestyle modern
You shouldn't feel sorry for the lifestyle you haven't tasted, but for the one you are about to lose
bravery action contempt
Contempt for an assailant is best shown by bravery in action.
believe men law
Of the gods we believe, and of men we know, that by a necessary law of their nature they rule wherever they can.
real opportunity thinking
Wealth to us is not mere material for vainglory but an opportunity for achievement; and poverty we think it no disgrace to acknowledge but a real degredation to make no effort to overcome.
ambition
Full of hopes beyond their power though not beyond their ambition.
war growth sparta
The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.