A collection of quotes and thoughts by Herodotus on Persia, wars, ancient, Egypt, Thucydides, miseries, men, history, sons, fathers, battle-of-thermopylae and marathon.
Herodotus was an illustrious Greek historian. He was a contemporary of Euripides, Thucydides and Socrates. He was born in Halicarnassus, in the Persian Empire and lived in the fifth century. He is considered as the ‘Father of History’. He treated historical subjects as a method of investigation by gathering material critically and systematically. He then arranged them in historiographic narrative. He broke away from Homeric tradition and is considered to be the first one to do so. The only work that Herodotus is known to have produced is ‘The Histories’ which is a record of his ‘inquiry’ on the origins of ‘Greco-Persian Wars’. His thoughts, stories, opinions, views are sometimes considered whimsical and at times imprecise, however, he always claimed that he reported only what he was told. Here is a corpus of quotable quotes and sayings by Herodotus on bitterest, miseries, control, knowledge, ignorance, peace, friendship, control, truth, believe, risks, people, goal, fear, soul, destiny, evil, freedom etc which have been extracted from his work, writings, thoughts, stories and life.
Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.
Herodotus
It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.
If a man insisted on always being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.
Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal, while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before
Herodotus
After all, no one is stupid enough to prefer war to peace; in peace sons bury their fathers and in war fathers bury their sons.
But this I know: if all mankind were to take their troubles to market with the idea of exchanging them, anyone seeing what his neighbor's troubles were like would be glad to go home with his own.
Happiness is not fame or riches or heroic virtues, but a state that will inspire posterity to think in reflecting upon our life, that it was the life they would wish to live.
It is the greatest and the tallest of trees that the gods bring low with bolts and thunder. For the gods love to thwart whatever is greater than the rest. They do not suffer pride in anyone but themselves.
No one is so senseless as to choose of his own will war rather than peace, since in peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons.
Now it happened that this Candaules was in love with his own wife; and not only so, but thought her the fairest woman in the whole world. This fancy had strange consequences.
Astyages had a daughter called Mandane, and he dreamed one night that she urinated in such enormous quantities that it filled his city and swamped the whole of Asia.
Herodotus
They made it plain to everyone, however, and above all to the king himself, that although he had plenty of troops, he did not have many men.
Herodotus
Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances.
Herodotus
It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.
I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Herodotus
One should always look to the end of everything, how it will finally come out. For the god has shown blessedness to many only to overturn them utterly in the end.
Do you see how the god always hurls his bolts at the greatest houses and the tallest trees. For he is wont to thwart whatever is greater than the rest.
If someone were to put a proposition before men bidding them choose, after examination, the best customs in the world, each nation would certainly select its own.
It's impossible for someone who is human to have all good things together, just as there is no single country able to provide all good things for itself.
Of all men's miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.
Herodotus
Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.
Herodotus
If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.
; so that the actions of of people will not fade with time. )
