Xenophon > Quotes

“Anything forced is not beautiful”
― Xenophon, The Art of Horsemanship

“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.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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.”
― Xenophon

“You are well aware that it is not numbers or strength that bring the victories in war. No, it is when one side goes against the enemy with the gods' gift of a stronger morale that their adversaries, as a rule, cannot withstand them. I have noticed this point too, my friends, that in soldiering the people whose one aim is to keep alive usually find a wretched and dishonorable death, while the people who, realizing that death is the common lot of all men, make it their endeavour to die with honour, somehow seem more often to reach old age and to have a happier life when they are alive. These are facts which you too should realize (our situation demands it) and should show that you yourselves are brave men and should call on the rest to do likewise.”
― Xenophon, The Persian Expedition

“self-confidence should always ride side by side with a strong sense of humility.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Moderation in all things healthful; total abstinence from all things harmful.”
― Xenophon

“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.”
― Xenophon, Conversations of Socrates

“Remember the lessons of history. Remember how often whole peoples have allowed themselves to be persuaded to go to war by ‘wise’ men—and then been utterly destroyed by the very enemy they agreed to attack! Remember how many statesmen have helped raise new leadership to power—and then been overthrown by their own protégés! Remember how often leaders have chosen to treat their friends like slaves—and then perished in the revolutions caused by their idiotic methods! How many powerful men have craved to dominate the world—and by overreaching have lost everything they once possessed!”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Most people, when they are set upon looking into other people's affairs, never turn to examine themselves.”
― Xenophon, Conversations of Socrates

“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.”
― Xenophon, The Art of Horsemanship

“If you consider what are called the virtues in mankind, you will find their growth is assisted by education and cultivation.”
― Xenophon

“Brevity is the soul of command.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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?”
― Xenophon

“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.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“battles are decided more by the morale of the troops than by their bodily strength.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Misleaders are slow to work hard but quick to act on greed. They convince their men that dishonest behavior leads to great wealth.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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!”
― Xenophon, The Persian Expedition

“for as they who use no bodily exercises are awkward and unwieldy in the actions of the body, so they who exercise not their minds are incapable of the noble actions of the mind, and have not courage enough to undertake anything worthy of praise, nor command enough over themselves to abstain from things that are forbid.”
― Xenophon, The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates

“I made my people understand the crucial difference between modesty and self-control. The modest person, I told them, will do nothing blameworthy in the light of day, but a true paragon of self-control—which we all should strive to be—avoids unworthy actions even in the deepest secrecy of his private life.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“The man who doesn't know his own ability is ignorant of himself.”
― Xenophon, Conversations of Socrates

“In the Face of Danger, Be Eager, Not Intimidated  ”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Most of us are always trying to increase our wealth, but you and your officers seem far more concerned with perfecting your souls.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“there was something in me that would not rest until I fulfilled a grand destiny. Thus I created an empire in my thoughts long before I began to win an empire in reality. When”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Success always calls for greater generosity—though most people, lost in the darkness of their own egos, treat it as an occasion for greater greed.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“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.”
― Xenophon

“He had put on the best-looking uniform that he could, thinking that...victory deserved the best-looking armour.”
― Xenophon, The Persian Expedition

“پیروزی در مسابقات ورزشی المپیا را نباید جلوه‌ی فضیلت‌های ایزدی ورزشکاران دانست، بلکه شایسته است که علم و سوفیا را بر نیروی پهلوانان و اسبان برتر شمرد”
― Xenophon