Xenophon Quotes

#1. Success Should Never Breed Complacency

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#2. There is a deep - and usually frustrated - desire in the heart of everyone to act with benevolence rather than selfishness, and one fine instance of generosity can inspire dozens more.

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#3. He had put on the best-looking uniform that he could, thinking that...victory deserved the best-looking armour.

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#4. The first duty is to sacrifice to the gods and pray them to grant you the thought,words, and deeds likely to render your command most pleasing to the gods and bring yourself, your friends, and your city the fullest measure of affection and glory and advantage

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#5. even if we only gain a psychological advantage, that can mean the difference between victory and defeat. I'm reminded of the words of my father the king, who says that battles are decided more by the morale of the troops than by their bodily strength." Syazarees

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#6. Excess of grief for the dead is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not.

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#7. but that it is only the writings and precepts of the philosophers and other fine writers that are the true riches, because they enrich with virtue the minds of those that possess them." Euthydemus

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#8. he who marries a beautiful woman in hopes of being happy with her knows not but that even she herself may be the cause of all his uneasinesses;

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#9. Moderation in all things healthful; total abstinence from all things harmful.

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#10. I am a stranger in all countries.

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#11. You know, I need hardly remind you, it is not numbers or strength that gives victory in war; but, heaven helping them, to one or other of two combatants it is given to dash with stouter hearts to meet the foe, and such onset, in nine cases out of ten, those others refuse to meet.

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#12. For drink, there was beer which was very strong when not mingled with water, but was agreeable to those who were used to it. They drank this with a reed, out of the vessel that held the beer, upon which they saw the barley swim.

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#13. No human being will ever know the truth, for even if they happened to say it by chance, they would not know they had done so.

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#14. When a horse wants to display himself ... he lifts his neck up high and flexes his poll haughtily, and picks his legs up freely, and keeps his tail up.

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#15. If you consider what are called the virtues in mankind, you will find their growth is assisted by education and cultivation.

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#16. that the truly contented man is not the possessor of vast riches. The crown of happiness goes to the person who has the skill to gain money fairly, use it honorably, and not mistake gold for a god of power and light.

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#17. It is no disgrace but honourable rather to steal, except such things as the law forbids;

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#18. The man who doesn't know his own ability is ignorant of himself.

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#19. Thus strife and anger beget war, avarice stifles benevolence, envy produces hate. But friendship overcoming all these difficulties, finds out the virtuous, and unites them together. For,

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#20. do you not take him to be just who commits no manner of injustice?" "It

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#21. To quote a dictum of Simon, what a horse does under compulsion he does blindly, and his performance is no more beautiful than would be that of a ballet-dancer taught by whip and goad.

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#22. The true test of a leader is whether his followers will adhere to his cause from their own volition, enduring the most arduous hardships without being forced to do so, and remaining steadfast in the moments of greatest peril.

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#23. Some one may say, are you not ashamed to be so taken in like a fool? Yes, I should be ashamed, if it had been an open enemy who had so deceived me. But, to my mind, when friend cheats friend, a deeper stain attaches to the perpetrator than to the victim of deceit.

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#24. There is small risk a general will be regarded with contempt by those he leads, if, whatever he may have to preach, he shows himself best able to perform.

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#25. Truly, men often fail to understand their own weaknesses," I said neutrally, "and their lack of self-knowledge can bring terrible disasters down on their own heads.

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#26. Remember too," I added, "that getting rid of scoundrels ends the danger of contamination for the rest of the army. Men are drawn closer to virtue when they see the dishonor that falls on misleaders.

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#27. Anything forced is not beautiful

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#28. When, lithe of limb, she danced the Pyrrhic, loud clapping followed; and the Paphlagonians asked, "If these women fought by their side in battle?" to which they answered, "To be sure, it was the women who routed the great King, and drove him out of camp." So ended the night.

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#29. He was astonished likewise that they did not see it was impossible for men to comprehend anything of all those wonders, seeing they who have the reputation of being most knowing in them are of quite different opinions, and can agree no better than so many fools and madmen;

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#30. If you wish to be thought a good estate manager, or a good horseman, or a good physician, or a good flute player without really being one, just imagine all the tricks you have to invent just to keep up appearances. You might succeed at first, but in the end you're going to be exposed as an impostor.

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#31. In my experience, men who respond to good fortune with modesty and kindness are harder to find than those who face adversity with courage. For in the very nature of things, success tends to create pride and blindness in the hearts of men, while suffering teaches them to be patient and strong.

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#32. People often say what is right and do what is wrong; but nobody can be in the wrong if he is doing what is right.

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#33. The suffering of the leader is always lightened by his glory. As much as possible, you must let others share in your glory, so that they never lose heart." I

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#34. I will choosing to die rather than to remain alive without freedom and beg, as an alternative to death, a vastly inferior life.

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#35. What am I lying here for? ... We are lying here as though we had a chance of enjoying a quiet time ... Am I waiting until I become a little older?

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#36. For what the horse does under compulsion, as Simon also observes, is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should whip and spur a dancer.

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#37. Men unite against none so readily as against those whom they
see attempting to rule over them.

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#38. A man may hate cruelty and lies, but if he's never given an opportunity to show what he's made of, no one will remember him when he dies.

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#39. A horse is a thing of beauty ... none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in his splendor.

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#40. Leaders must always set the highest standard. In a summer campaign, leaders must always endure their share of the sun and the heat and, in winter, the cold and the frost. In all labors, leaders must prove tireless if they want to enjoy the trust of their followers.

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#41. Most people, when they are set upon looking into other people's affairs, never turn to examine themselves.

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#42. The sweetest of all sounds is praise.

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#43. and in general, every ordinance made without the consent of those who are to obey it, is a violence rather than a law." "And is

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#44. Whatever you determine to be right, with diligence endeavour to perform.

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#45. Misleaders are slow to work hard but quick to act on greed. They convince their men that dishonest behavior leads to great wealth.

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#46. Battles are decided more by the morale of the troops than by their bodily strength.

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#47. Obedience Should Not Be the Result of Compulsion

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#48. He who eats with most pleasure is he who least requires sauce.

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#49. What angers me are all those kings who are fabled for the heaps of gold in their coffers, and their freedom from trouble and pain. I have a different vision. I say that the true leader shuns luxury and ease. Once in power, he should want to work harder than ever.

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#50. Wherever magistrates were appointed from among those who complied with the injunctions of the laws, Socrates considered the government to be an aristocracy.

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#51. Men, the enemy troops you can see are all that stands between us and the place we have for so long been determined to reach. We must find a way to eat them alive!

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