“It is the merit of a general to impart good news, and to conceal the truth.”
Author detail
Sophocles (circa. 496 BCE - 406 BCE) was the second of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived to the present day. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than those of Euripides. According to the Suda, a 10th century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 120 or more plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form, namely Ajax, Antigone, Trachinian Women, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most-awarded playwright in the dramatic competitions of ancient Athens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. Sophocles competed in around thirty drama competitions; he won perhaps twenty four and never received lower than second place. Aeschylus won fourteen competitions and was defeated by Sophocles at times. Euripides won only four competitions.
Quotes
Showing 61-80 of 135
“It is the merit of a general to impart good news, and to conceal the truth.”
“Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.”
“There is no greater evil for men than the constraint of fortune.”
“A short saying often contains much wisdom.”
“Evil counsel travels fast.”
“Reason is God's crowning gift to man.”
“There is no sense in crying over spilt milk. Why bewail what is done and cannot be recalled?”
“Profit is sweet, even if it comes from deception.”
“Now I see that going out into the testing ground of men it is the tongue and not the deed that wins the day.”
“Deem no man happy until he passes the end of his life without suffering grief.”
“The dice of Zeus always fall luckily.”
“A soul that is kind and intends justice discovers more than any sophist.”
“All a man's affairs become diseased when he wishes to cure evils by evils.”
“All is disgust when a man leaves his own nature and does what is unfit.”
“To be doing good deeds is man's most glorious task.”
“How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in the truth.”
“For those whose wit becomes the mother of villainy, those it educates to be evil in all things.”
“Whoever thinks that he alone has speech, or possesses speech or mind above others, when unfolded such men are seen to be empty.”
“If my body is enslaved, still my mind is free.”
“Men may know many things by seeing; but no prophet can see before the event, nor what end waits for him.”