“It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
Letter to James McHenry (10 August 1798)
1790s
“It is better to fight with a few good men against all the wicked, than with many wicked men against a few good men.”
§ 5
From Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "It is better to fight with a few good men against all the wicked, than with many wicked men against a few good men." by Antisthenes?
Antisthenes24
Greek philosopher -444–-365 BCRelated quotes
“Even to a wicked man a divinity gives wealth, Cyrus, but to few men comes the gift of excellence.”
Theognis of Megara (-570–-485 BC) Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC
Source: Elegies, Line 149-150
W.E.B. Du Bois book The Souls of Black Folk
Source: The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Ch. XII: Of Alexander Crummell
T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author
Choruses from The Rock (1934)
Context: There came one who spoke of the shame of Jerusalem
And the holy places defiled;
Peter the Hermit, scourging with words.
And among his hearers were a few good men,
Many who were evil,
And most who were neither,
Like all men in all places.
Bias of Priene (-600–-530 BC) ancient Greek philosopher, one of the Seven Sages
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 230)
“A few honest men are better than numbers.”
Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) English military and political leader
Letter to Sir William Spring (September 1643)
Laurence Clarkson (1615–1667) English theologian
A Single Eye, All Light, No Darkness; or Light and Darkness One (1650)
William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879) American journalist
Introductory Remarks
Thoughts on African Colonization (1832)
Context: Little boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men; but to rebuke great and good men for their conduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of moral courage. The great mass of mankind shun the labor and responsibility of forming opinions for themselves. The question is not — what is true? but — what is popular? Not — what does God say? but — what says the public? Not — what is my opinion? but — what do others believe?
Pythagoras (-585–-495 BC) ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher
"Pythagorean Ethical Sentences From Stobæus" (1904)
Florilegium