Sophocles

Literature Ancient Greek -496 – -406 96 quotes

One of the three great ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived.

Quotes by Sophocles

Man's life is a short space of time; and it is not for him to be proud.

Oedipus at Colonus

The greatest of evils is to be conscious of none.

Oedipus at Colonus

Oh, how terrible it is to see the truth when the truth is not for the good of those who see it!

Oedipus Rex

The dice of Zeus always fall fortunately.

Fragment

Success is dependent on effort.

Electra

It is by acts and not by ideas that people live.

Fragment

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices make instruments to plague us.

Fragment

A man who has been through bitter experiences knows how to help others.

Philoctetes

It is not strength, but art, obtains the prize, And to be swift is less than to be wise.

The Trachiniae

The greatest of all evils is to be conscious of none.

Oedipus at Colonus

A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong.

Fragment

The man who is a fool is a fool in all things.

Electra

The best way to avenge yourself is to be unlike him who did the injury.

Fragment

The only way to learn is to do.

Fragment

What you have done, you have done to yourself.

Oedipus Rex

The future is not in our hands.

Oedipus Rex

There is no greater evil than anarchy.

Antigone

It is not by words, but by deeds, that men are judged.

Ajax

The man who is always right is always wrong.

Antigone

To err is human, to persist in error is diabolical.

Antigone