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I have often before now been convinced that a democracy is incapable of empire.

Thucydides

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Thucydides
Historian
Democracy
Often
Empire
Empires
Incapable
Convinced

More quotes by 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.
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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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Those who have experienced good and bad luck many times have every reason to be skeptical of successes
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We secure our friends not by accepting favours but by doing them.
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The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.
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speculation is carried on in safety, but, when it comes to action, fear causes failure.
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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.
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If it had not been for the pernicious power of envy, men would not so have exalted vengeance above innocence and profit above justice... in these acts of revenge on others, men take it upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of salvation to all who are in distress.
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Human nature is the one constant through human history. It is always there.
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Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.
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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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As for democracy, the men of sense among us knew what it was, and I perhaps as well as any, as I have more cause to complain of it but there is nothing new to be said of a patent absurdity-meanwhile we did not think it safe to alter it under the pressure of your hostility.
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We Greeks are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness.
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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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Indeed it is generally the case that men are readier to call rogues clever than simpletons honest, and are ashamed of being the second as they are proud of being the first.
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Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris
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In a word I claim that our city as a whole is an education to Greece.
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Abstinence from all injustice to other first-rate powers is a greater tower of strength than anything that can be gained by the sacrifice of permanent tranquillity for an apparent temporary advantage.
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War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.
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Men's indignation, it seems, is more exited by legal wrong than by violent wrong the first looks like being cheated by an equal, the second like being compelled by a superior.
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