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Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.

Thucydides

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Thucydides
Historian
Patience
Politics
Power
Men
Impresses
Manifestations
Restraint
Impress
Manifestation

More quotes by Thucydides

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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.
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...knowing the secret of happiness to be freedom, and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy's onset.
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... Athenians are addicted to innovation. They are daring beyond their judgment they toil on with little opportunity for enjoying, being ever engaged in getting, they were born into the world to take no rest themselves, and to give none to others.
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Full of hopes beyond their power though not beyond their ambition.
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For we both alike know that into the discussion of human affairs the question of justice enters only where the pressure of necessity is equal, and that the powerful exact what they can, and the weak grant what they must.
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Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris
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The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.
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Mankind are tolerant of the praises of others as long as each hearer thinks that he can do as well or nearly as well himself, but, when the speaker rises above him, jealousy is aroused and he begins to be incredulous.
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Those who have experienced good and bad luck many times have every reason to be skeptical of successes
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War is an evil thing but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse.... Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will ultimately restore our losses, but submission will mean permanent loss of all that we value.... To you who call yourselves men of peace, I say: You are not safe unless you have men of action on your side.
Thucydides
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But the prize for courage will surely be awarded most justly to those who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger.
Thucydides
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Remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action.
Thucydides
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Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage.
Thucydides
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The superior gratification derived from the use and contemplation of costly and supposedly beautiful products is, commonly, in great measure a gratification of our sense of costliness masquerading under the name of beauty.
Thucydides
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War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.
Thucydides
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He passes through life most securely who has least reason to reproach himself with complaisance toward his enemies.
Thucydides
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So little trouble do men take in the search after truth so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand.
Thucydides
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I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth.
Thucydides
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Now the only sure basis of an alliance is for each party to be equally afraid of the other
Thucydides
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Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made.
Thucydides