We Greeks believe that a man who takes no part in public affairs is not merely lazy, but good for nothing
Thucydidesa collision at sea will ruin your entire day
ThucydidesTags: attributed-no-source misattributed-to-thucydides
You should punish in the same manner those who commit crimes with those who accuse falsely.
ThucydidesTags: attributed-no-source misattributed-to-thucydides
They whose minds are least sensitive to calamity, and whose hands are most quick to meet it, are the greatest men and the greatest communities.
ThucydidesYou may be sure that we are as well aware as you of the difficulty of contending against your power and fortune, unless the terms be equal. But we trust that the gods may grant us fortune as good as yours, since we are just men fighting against unjust, and that what we want in power will be made up by the alliance of the Lacedaemonians, who are bound, if only for very shame, to come to the aid of their kindred. Our confidence, therefore, after all is not so utterly irrational.
Think, too, of the great part that is played by the unpredictable in war: think of it now, before you are actually comitted to war. The longer a war lasts, the more things tend to depend on accidents. Neither you nor we can see into them: we have to abide their outcome in the dark. And when people are entering upon a war they do things the wrong way round. Action comes first, and it is only when they have already suffered that they begin to think.
ThucydidesRight, 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.
ThucydidesSome legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.
ThucydidesTags: rulers commonwealth governments
For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. Make them your examples, and, esteeming courage to be freedom and freedom to be happiness, do not weigh too nicely the perils of war."
[Funeral Oration of Pericles]
Tags: freedom war courage bravery fame sarcasm irony pericles
...when these matters are discussed by practical people, the standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel...
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