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The sun will not shine on any country that has borders with ours.
Herodotus -
A man trusts his ears less than his eyes.
Herodotus
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For as the body grows old, so the wits grow old and become blind towards all things alike.
Herodotus -
If anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the set of beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably—after careful considerations of their relative merits—choose that of his own country. Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.
Herodotus -
The most hateful human misfortune is for a wise man to have no influence.
Herodotus -
If an important decision is to be made, they the Persians discuss the question when they are drunk, and the following day the master of the house where the discussion was held submits their decision for reconsideration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned. Conversely, any decision they make when they are sober, is reconsidered afterwards when they are drunk.
Herodotus -
It is the gods' custom to bring low all things of surpassing greatness.
Herodotus -
How much better a thing it is to be envied than to be pitied.
Herodotus
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Whatever comes from God is impossible for a man to turn back.
Herodotus -
Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.
Herodotus -
Those who are skilled in archery bend their bow only when they are preparing to use it; when they do not require it, they allow it to remain unbent, for otherwise it would remain unserviceable when the time for using it arrived. So it is with man. If he were to devote himself unceasingly to a dull round of business, without breaking the monotony by cheerful amusements, he would fall imperceptibly into idiocy, or be struck by paralysis.
Herodotus -
Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.
Herodotus -
If someone were to put a proposition before men bidding them choose, after examination, the best customs in the world, each nation would certainly select its own.
Herodotus -
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
Herodotus
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A woman takes off her claim to respect along with her garments.
Herodotus -
We are less convinced by what we hear than by what we see.
Herodotus -
But if you know that you are a man too, and that even such are those that rule, learn this first of all: that all human affairs are a wheel which, as it turns, does not allow the same men always to be fortunate.
Herodotus -
When a woman removes her garment, she also removes the respect that is hers.
Herodotus -
Circumstances rule men; men do not rule circumstances.
Herodotus -
A real friend ... exults in his friends happiness, rejoices in all his joys, and is ready to afford him the best advice.
Herodotus
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History is marked by alternating movements across the imaginary line that separates East from West in Eurasia.
Herodotus -
If one is sufficiently lavish with time, everything possible happens.
Herodotus -
It is a law of nature that fainthearted men should be the fruit of luxurious countries, for we never find that the same soil produces delicacies and heroes.
Herodotus -
Although extraordinary valor was displayed by the entire corps of Spartans and Thespians, yet bravest of all was declared the Spartan Dienekes. It is said that on the eve of battle, he was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that, their arrows would block out the sun. Dienekes, however, undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh, 'Good. Then we will fight in the shade.
Herodotus