Hesiod Quotes

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint."

"Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the larger the load, the greater will be the profit upon profit."

"When you deal with your brother, be pleasant, but get a witness."

"For a man wins nothing better than a good wife, and then again nothing deadlier than a bad one."

"Justice prevails over transgression when she comes to the end of the race."

"Toil is no source of shame; idleness is shame."

"Work is no disgrace: it is idleness which is a disgrace."

"A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing."

"Badness you can get easily, in quantity; the road is smooth, and it lies close by, But in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way to it."

"For both faith and want of faith have destroyed men alike."

"At the beginning of the cask and the end take thy fill but be saving in the middle; for at the bottom the savings comes too late."

"Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man."

"Often even a whole city suffers for a bad man who sins and contrives presumptuous deeds."

"False shame accompanies a man that is poor, shame that either harms a man greatly or profits him; shame is with poverty, but confidence with wealth."

"Whoever has trusted a woman has trusted deceivers."

"Do not let a flattering woman coax and wheedle you and deceive you; she is after your barn."

"But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to those of the land and do not transgress what is just, for them the city flourishes and its people prosper."

"The fool learns by suffering."

"Preserve the mean; the opportune moment is best in all things."

"So the people will pay the penalty for their kings' presumption, who, by devising evil, turn justice from her path with tortuous speech."