Sophocles
Ancient Greek playwright, dramatist, priest, and politician of Athens.
Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted.
Nobly to live, or else nobly to die,
Befits proud birth.
Nothing so evil as money ever grew to be current among men. This lays cities low, this drives men from their homes, this trains and warps honest souls till they set themselves to works of shame; this still teaches folk to practise villainies, and to know every godless deed. But all the men who wrought this thing for hire have made it sure that, soon or late, they shall pay the price.
It is a good thing
To escape from death, but it is not great pleasure
To bring death to a friend.
Fear? What has a man to do with fear? Chance rules our lives, and the future is all unknown. Best live as we may, from day to day.
The truth is always the strongest argument.
Henceforth ye may thieve with better knowledge whence lucre should be won, and learn that it is not well to love gain from every source. For thou wilt find that ill-gotten pelf brings more men to ruin than to weal.
Men of ill judgement oft ignore the good
That lies within their hands, till they have lost it.
A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers should one day suffer reverse.
The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.
The tyrant is a child of Pride
Who drinks from his sickening cup
Recklessness and vanity,
Until from his high crest headlong
He plummets to the dust of hope.
I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare — I have no use for him, either.
Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all.
A wise player ought to accept his throws and score them, not bewail his luck.
The ideal condition
Would be, I admit, that men should be right by instinct;
But since we are all likely to go astray,
The reasonable thing is to learn from those who can teach.
No oath can be too binding for a lover.
Whoever has a keen eye for profits, is blind in relation to his craft.
One word
Frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.
Wisdom outweighs any wealth.
For God hates utterly
The bray of bragging tongues.