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“They have discovered that the length of time we have now been in commission has rotted our ships and wasted our crews, and that with the completeness of our crews and the soundness of the pristine efficiency of our navy has departed. For it is impossible for us to haul our ships ashore and dry them out because the enemy's vessels being as many or more than our own, we are constantly anticipating an attack.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VII, 7.12-[3]-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII

Thucydides photo

“he who voluntarily confronts tremendous odds must have very great internal resources to draw upon.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book II, 2.89-[6].
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II

Thucydides photo

“self-control contains honour as a chief constituent, and honour bravery.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.84; &quot;self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and respect of self, in turn, is the chief element in courage&quot; ( trans. Charles Forster Smith https://archive.org/stream/thucydideswithen01thucuoft/thucydideswithen01thucuoft#page/142/mode/2up) <br class="br">History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

Thucydides photo

“Fire signals of an attack were also raised toward Thebes, but the Plataeans in the city at once displayed a number of others, prepared beforehand for this very purpose, in order to render the enemy's signals unintelligible, and to prevent his friends from getting a true idea of what was happening and coming to his aid before their comrades who had gone out should have made good their escape and be in safety.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book III, 3.22-[7]-[8] (See also: Spoofing attack..).
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III

Thucydides photo

“To come to this war: despite the known disposition of the actors in a struggle to overrate its importance, and when it is over to return to their admiration of earlier events, yet an examination of the facts will show that it was much greater than the wars which preceded it.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Variant translation: "People always think the greatest war is the one they are fighting at the moment, and when that is over they are more impressed with wars of antiquity; but, even so, this war will prove, to all who look at the facts, that it was greater than the others." Translation by Paul Woodruff.
Book I, 21-[2]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

Thucydides photo

“The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.23-[6].
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

Thucydides photo

“Hope, danger's comforter”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book V, 5.103-[1]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book V

Thucydides photo

“But what most oppressed them was that they had two wars at once, and has thus reached a pitch of frenzy which no one would have believed possible if he had heard of it before it had come to pass.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VII, 7.28-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII

Thucydides photo

“And the rarest dangers are those in which failure brings little loss and success the greatest advantage.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VII, 7.68-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII

Thucydides photo

“For the love of gain would reconcile the weaker to the dominion of the stronger, and the possession of capital enabled the more powerful to reduce the smaller cities to subjection.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.8-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

Thucydides photo

“They stood where they stood by the power of the sword.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book IV, 4.98-[7]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV

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“Now the only sure basis of an alliance is for each party to be equally afraid of the other;”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book III, 3.11-[2]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III

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“By day certainly the combatants have a clearer notion, though even then by no means of all that takes place, no one knowing much of anything that does not does not go on in his own immediate neighborhood; but in a night engagement ( and this was the only one that occurred between great armies during the war) how could anyone know anything for certain?”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VII, 7.44-[1]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII

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“Words had to change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them. Reckless audacity came to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice; moderation was held to be a cloak for unmanliness; ability to see all sides of a question, inaptness to act on any. Frantic violence became the attribute of manliness; cautious plotting, a justifiable means of self-defence. The advocate of extreme measures was always trustworthy; his opponent a man to be suspected. To succeed in a plot was to have a shrewd head, to divine a plot a still shrewder; but to try to provide against having to do either was to break up your party and to be afraid of your adversaries.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book III, 3.82-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III

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“When men are once checked in what they consider their special excellence, their whole opinion of themselves suffers more than if they had not at first believed in their superiority, the unexpected shock to their pride causing them to give way more than their real strength warrants; and that is probably now the case with the Athenians.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VII, 7.66-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII

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“We must march against the enemy, and teach him that he must go and get what he wants by attacking someone who will not resist him, but that men whose glory it is to be always ready to give battle for the liberty of their own country, and never unjustly to enslave that of others, will not let him go without a struggle.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book IV, 4.92-[7]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV

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“war is a matter not so much of arms as of money”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.83-[2]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

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“Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VI, 6.18-[2]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VI

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“And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their inferiors, on the whole succeed best.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book V, 5.111-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book V

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“Hatred also is short lived; but that which makes the splendor of the present and the glory of the future remains forever unforgotten”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book II, 2.64-[5]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II