Quotes by Sophocles

“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.”
-Sophocles

“Ignorant men don't know what good they hold in their hands until they've flung it away.” -Sophocles

“Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another.”
-Sophocles

“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
-Sophocles

“The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.” -Sophocles

“What you cannot enforce, do not command.”
-Sophocles

“No man loves life like him that's growing old.”
-Sophocles, Acrisius

“To him who is in fear everything rustles.”
-Sophocles, Acrisius

“It is not righteousness to outrage A brave man dead, not even though you hate him.” -Sophocles, Ajax

“Men of ill judgment oft ignore the good That lies within their hands, till they have lost it.” -Sophocles, Ajax

“Of all human ills, greatest is fortune's wayward tyranny.”
-Sophocles, Ajax

“For God hates utterly The bray of bragging tongues.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“How dreadful it is when the right judge judges wrong!”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare - I have no use for him either.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Money: There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Nobody likes the man who brings bad news.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Numberless are the world's wonders, but none More wonderful than man.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Reason is God's crowning gift to man.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Show me the man who keeps his house in hand, He's fit for public authority.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“The ideal condition Would be, I admit, that men should be right by instinct; But since we are all likely to go astray, The reasonable thing is to learn from those who can teach.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Wisdom outweighs any wealth.”
-Sophocles, Antigone

“Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, To speak dishonorably is pardonable.”
-Sophocles, Creusa

“Death is not the worst thing; rather, when one who craves death cannot attain even that wish.” -Sophocles, Electra

“Death is not the worst; rather, in vain To wish for death, and not to compass it.”
-Sophocles, Electra

“The end excuses any evil.”
-Sophocles, Electra (c.409 BC)

“It made our hair stand up in panic fear.”
-Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

“One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
-Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

“Stranger in a strange country.”
-Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus