13 Pericles Quotes

Pericles quotes

1. Nor is it any longer possible for you to give up this empire ... Your empire is now like a tyranny: it may have been wrong to take it; it is certainly dangerous to let it go.

2. But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.

3. The whole Earth is the Sepulchre of famous men; and their story is not graven only on Stone over their native earth, but lives on far away, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men's lives.

4. Although only a few may originate a policy, we are all able to judge it.

5. What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

6. Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.

7. Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now.

8. If Athens shall appear great to you, consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty.

9. Instead of looking on discussion as a stumbling block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all.

10. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.

    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

11. Make up your mind that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.

12. Time is the king of all men, he is their parent and their grave, and gives them what he will and not what they crave.

13. Wait for that wisest of all counselors, Time.