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.

“The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book II, 2.43
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II

“Let him remember that many before now have tried to chastise a wrongdoer, and failing to punish their enemy have not even saved themselves; while many who have trusted in force to gain an advantage, instead of gaining anything more, have been doomed to lose what they had. Vengeance is not necessarily successful because wrong has been done, or strength sure because it is confident; but the incalculable element in the future exercises the widest influence, and is the most treacherous, and yet in fact the most useful of all things, as it frightens us all equally, and thus makes us consider before attacking each other.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book IV, 4.62-[3]-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV

“For the true author of the subjugation of a people is not so much the immediate agent, as the power which permits it having the means to prevent it.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book I, 69.
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“In practice we always base our preparations against an enemy on the assumption that his plans are good; indeed, it is right to rest our hopes not on a belief in his blunders, but on the soundness of our provisions. Nor ought we to believe that there is much difference between man and man, but to think that the superiority lies with him who is reared in the severest school.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Variant translation: "Instead, we think the plans of our neighbors are as good as our own, and we can't work out whose chances at war are better in a speech. So we always make our preparations in action, on the assumption that our enemies know what they are doing. We should not build our hopes on the belief that they will make mistakes, but on our own careful foresight. And we should not think there is much difference between one man and another, except that the winner will be the one whose education was the most severe." Translation by Paul Woodruff.
Variant translation: "There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much from one another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." Note: Some versions omit the "who have been".
Book I, 1.84-[4]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I

“Disdain is the privilege of those who, like us, have been assured by reflection of their superiority to their adversary. And where the chances are the same, knowledge fortifies courage by the contempt which is its consequence, its trust being placed, not in hope, which is the prop of the desperate, but in a judgment grounded upon existing resources, whose anticipations are more to be depended upon.”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

Book II, 2.62-[4]-[5]
History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II

“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

“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

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

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

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

“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

“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

“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

“Hope, danger's comforter”

Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War

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

“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

“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