Sophocles quotes

Truth hates delay. (Veritas odit moras.)

The soul that has conceived one wickedness can nurse no good thereafter.

The truth is what I cherish and that's my strength

The oaths of a woman I inscribe on water.

If we always helped one another, no one would need luck.

A wise man does not chatter with one whose mind is sick.

What people believe prevails over the truth.

Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue.

The happiest life is to be without thought

You must remember that no one lives a life free from pain and suffering.

A state is not a state if it belongs to one man.

There is no success without hardship.

No wound is worse than counterfeited love.

If you were to offer a thirsty man all wisdom, you would not please him more than if you gave him a drink.

You don't know what kind of day you will have, until evening.

Profit is sweet, even if it comes from deception.

Whom Jupiter would destroy he first drives mad.

All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.

Not to be born is, past all prizing, best.

Nobody likes the man who brings bad news.

Chance never helps those who do not help themselves.

A lie never lives to be old.

Stubbornness and stupidity are twins.

There is no sense in crying over spilt milk. Why bewail what is done and cannot be recalled?

Rash indeed is he who reckons on tomorrow, or happily on the days beyond it; for tomorrow is not, until today is past.

I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.

Knowledge must come through action.

Not to be born surpasses all reckoning. The next best thing by far, when one has been born is to go back as swiftly as possible whence one came.

Who feels no ills, should, therefore, fear them; and when fortune smiles, be doubly cautious, lest destruction come remorseless on him, and he fall unpitied.

Opinions have greater power than strength of hands.

Quick decisions are unsafe decisions.

Children are the anchors of a mother's life.

Time, which sees all things, has found you out.

Ugly deeds are taught by ugly deeds.

Be a thrifty steward of thy goods.

And if you think my acts are foolishness the foolishness may be in a fool's eye.

Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.

All a man's affairs become diseased when he wishes to cure evils by evils.

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.

Go then if you must, but remember, no matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still.

Fortune cannot aid those who do nothing.

A man though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.

Woman, to women silence is the best ornament.

Money: There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.

Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.

What greater wound is there than a false friend?

It is terrible to speak well and be wrong.

Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted.

Ignorance is a tough evil to conquer.

Despair often breeds disease.

The strongest iron, hardened in the fire, most often ends in scraps and shatterings.

Love, you mock us for your sport.

One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.

Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.

Opportunity has power over all things.

Tomorrow is tomorrow. Future cares have future cures, And we must mind today.

Much wisdom often goes with fewer words.

No treaty is ever an impediment to a cheat.

Let men be wise by instinct if they can, but when this fails be wise by good advice.

The good befriend themselves.

Kindness is ever the begetter of kindness.

A wise doctor does not mutter incantations over a sore that needs the knife.

A wise player ought to accept his throws and score them, not bewail his luck.

How dangerous can false reasoning prove!

Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.

Unwanted favours gain no gratitude.

We have only a little time to please the living. But all eternity to love the dead.

I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect.

Is anyone in all the world safe from unhappiness?

Remember, nothing succeeds without toil.

No one longs to live more than someone growing old.

Foolishness is indeed the sister of wickedness.

The truth is always the strongest argument.

Things gained through unjust fraud are never secure.

The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.

Do not believe that you alone can be right.The man who thinks that,The man who maintains that only he has the powerTo reason correctly, the gift to speak, the soul-A man like that, when you know him, turns out empty.

A word does not frighten the man who, in acting feels no fear.

It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced.

Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver.

In a just cause the weak will beat the strong.

Time alone reveals the just man; but you might discern a bad man in a single day.

Fortune never helps the fainthearted.

Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all.

Every man can see things far off but is blind to what is near.

Each one of us must live the life God gives him; it cannot be shirked.

No man loves life like him that's growing old.

As sight is in the eye, so is the mind in the soul!

But the power of destiny is something awesome; neither wealth, nor Ares, nor a tower, nor dark-hulled ships might escape it.

Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, to speak dishonorably is pardonable.

I recommend...bread, meat, vegetables, and beer.

Wise thinkers prevail everywhere.

It is the task of a good man to help those in misfortune.

Opportunity is the best captain of all endeavor.

What fate can be worse than to know we have no one but ourselves to blame for our misfortunes!

Laziness is the mother of all evils.

Laws can never be enforced unless fear supports them.

Whoever lives among many evils just as I, how can dying not be a source of gain?

Not knowing anything is the sweetest life.

Men of ill judgment ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it.

Money is the worst currency that ever grew among mankind. This sacks cities, this drives men from their homes, this teaches and corrupts the worthiest minds to turn base deeds.

Kindness gives birth to kindness.

If you are out of trouble, watch for danger. And when you live well, then consider the most your life, lest ruin take it unawares.

For whoever knows how to return a kindness he has received must be a friend above all price.

The Most beautiful human deed, is to be useful to others.

The kind of man who always thinks that he is right, that his opinions, his pronouncements, are the final word, when once exposed shows nothing there. But a wise man has much to learn without a loss of dignity.

Without labor nothing prospers.

None love the messenger who brings bad news.

Death is not the greatest of evils; it is worse to want to die, and not be able to.

A short saying often contains much wisdom.

When he endures nothing but endless miseries-- What pleasure is there in living the day after day, Edging slowly back and forth toward death? Anyone who warms their heart with the glow Of flickering hope is worth nothing at all. The noble man should either live with honor or die with honor. That's all there is to be said.

All concerns of men go wrong when they wish to cure evil with evil.

A man who takes pleasure in speaking continuously fools himself in thinking he is not unpleasant to those around him.

Always desire to learn something useful

It is only great souls that know how much glory there is in being good.

The end excuses any evil.

I am the child of Fortune, the giver of good, and I shall not be shamed. She is my mother; my sisters are the Seasons; my rising and my falling match with theirs. Born thus, I ask to be no other man than that I am.

What you can't enforce, do not command.

A fearful man is always hearing things.

The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.

Success is dependant on effort.

You should not consider a man's age but his acts.

The golden eye of justice sees, and requites the unjust man.

Kindness will always attract kindness.

Who seeks shall find.

Remember there is no success without hard work.