Quotes from work
History of the Peloponnesian War

ThucydidesOriginal title Ἱστορίαι

The History of the Peloponnesian War is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War , which was fought between the Peloponnesian League and the Delian League . It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian historian who also happened to serve as an Athenian general during the war. His account of the conflict is widely considered to be a classic and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history. The History is divided into eight books.

“But as the power of Hellas grew, and the acquisition of wealth became more an objective, the revenues of the states increasing, tyrannies were established almost everywhere…”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.13-[1] (See also: Karl Marx, Grundrisse, Introduction p. 7)
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“I have often before now been convinced that a democracy is incapable of empire…”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book III, 3.37-[1] (Speech of Cleon..).
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III

“So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Variant translation: "...the search for truth strains the patience of most people, who would rather believe the first things that come to hand." Translation by Paul Woodruff.
Book I, 1.20-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“The real cause I consider to be the one which was formerly most kept out of sight. The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired the Lacedaemon, made war inevitable.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.23-[6]. (See: Thucydides Trap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides%20Trap) <br class="br">History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“I am more afraid of our own blunders than of the enemy's devices.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, Chapter V
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“Thus they toil on in trouble and danger all the days of their life, with little opportunity for enjoying, being ever engaged in getting: their only idea of a holiday is to do what the occasion demands, and to them laborious occupation is less of a misfortune than the peace of a quiet life. To describe their character in a word, one might truly say that they were born into the world to take no rest themselves and to give none to others.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, Chapter III
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“There is, however, no advantage in reflections on the past further than may be of service to the present. For the future we must provide by maintaining what the present gives us and redoubling our efforts; it is hereditary to us to win virtue as the fruit of labour, and you must not change the habit, even though you should have a slight advantage in wealth and resources; for it is not right that what was won in want should be lost in plenty.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.123-[1]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“As for democracy, the men of sense among us knew what it was, and I perhaps as well as any, as I have more cause to complain of it; but there is nothing new to be said of a patent absurdity-meanwhile we did not think it safe to alter it under the pressure of your hostility.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VI, 6.89-[6]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VI

“when night came on, the Macedonians and the barbarian crowd suddenly took fright in one of those mysterious panics to which great armies are liable”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book IV, 4.125-[1]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV

“I think the two things most opposed to good counsel are haste and passion; haste usually goes hand in hand with folly, passion with coarseness and narrowness of mind.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book III, 3.42-[1] (Speech of Diodotus..).
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III

“speculation is carried on in safety, but, when it comes to action, fear causes failure.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.121-[5]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“But the prize for courage will surely be awarded most justly to those who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book II, 2.40-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II

“and their judgment was based more upon blind wishing than upon any sound prediction; for it is a habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not desire.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book IV, 4.108-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV

“we know that there can never be any solid friendship between individuals, or union between communities that is worth the name, unless the parties be persuaded of each others honesty”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book III, 3.10-[2]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book III

“The country on the sea coast, now called Macedonia, was first acquired by Alexander, the father of Perdiccas, and his ancestors, originally Temenids from Argos…The whole is now called Macedonia, and at the time of the invasion of Sitalces, Perdiccas, Alexander's son, was the reigning king.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book II, 99,-[3]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II

“the Thracian people, like the bloodiest of the barbarians, being ever most murderous when it has nothing to fear.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VII, 7.29-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VII

“In a democracy... someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book VIII, 8.89
As quoted in A Historical Commentary on Thucydides: A Companion to Rex Warner’s Penguin Translation, David Cartwright/Rex Warner, University of Michigan Press (1997), p. 298 : ISBN 0472084194
In the Richard Crawley translation, this quote is rendered as follows : [U]nder a democracy a disappointed candidate accepts his defeat more easily, because he has not the humiliation of being beaten by his equals.
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book VIII

“If you give way, you will instantly have to meet some greater demand, as having been frightened into obedience in the first instance; while a firm refusal will make them clearly understand that they must treat you more as equals.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.140-[5]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“That war is an evil is a proposition so familiar to every one that it would be tedious to develop it. No one is forced to engage in it by ignorance, or kept out of it by fear, if he fancies there is anything to be gained by it.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book IV, 4.59-[2]; "Nobody is driven into war by ignorance, and no one who thinks that he will gain anything from it is deterred by fear." ( trans. http://www.classicpersuasion.org/pw/thucydides/thucydides-passages.php?pleaseget=4.59-64 Benjamin Jowett) <br class="br">History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV

“In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 1.22-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I