Quotes from Xenophon

The sea! The sea!

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.

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.

The sweetest of all sounds is praise.

Anything forced is not beautiful

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

self-confidence should always ride side by side with a strong sense of humility.

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.

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

Brevity is the soul of command.

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.

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.

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?

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.

battles are decided more by the morale of the troops than by their bodily strength.

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

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.

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.

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

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!