Aristophanes Quotes

Aristophanes - sharp, cautionary take on how threats shape societies and keep us safe.

15 quotes

1. Cloud cuckoo land

2. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls.

3. Let Each Man Exercise The Art He Knows.

4. How can I study from below, that which is above?

5. First listen, my friend, and then you may shriek and bluster.

6. If a man owes me money, I never seem to forget. But if I do the owing, I somehow never remember.

7. Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war.

8. If you strike upon a thought that baffles you, break off from that entanglement and try another, so shall your wits be fresh to start again.

9. Thou shouldst not decide until thou hast heard what both have to say.

10. Only by being suspended aloft, by dangling my mind in the heavens and mingling my rare thought with the ethereal air, could I ever achieve strict scientific accuracy in my survey of the vast empyrean. Had I pursued my inquiries from down there on the ground, my data would be worthless. The earth, you see, pulls down the delicate essence of thought to its own gross level.

11. Old age is second childhood.

12. Love is simply the name for the desire and the pursuit of the whole.

13. Tis not for us to warn a wilful sinner; We stay him not, but let him run his course, Till by misfortunes rous'd, his conscience wakes, And prompts him to appease th' offended gods.

14. Women, you overheated dipsomaniacs, never passing up a chance to wangle a drink, a great boon to bartenders but a bane to us--not to mention our crockery and our woolens!

15. [Y]ou [man] are fool enough, it seems, to dare to war with [woman=] me, when for your faithful ally you might win me easily.