400s BC

Explore 29 quotes from the 400s BC

Not to be born surpasses thought and speech.
The second best is to have seen the light
And then to go back quickly whence we came.

Sophocles

Oedipus at Colonus

Buy Oedipus at Colonus at Amazon Buy Oedipus at Colonus at Amazon
Read Oedipus at Colonus at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Being born Death as a blessing

Speaker

Chorus

Author

Sophocles

Source

Oedipus at Colonus

Medium

Play

Genre

Greek tragedy Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

406 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sophocles. Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ [Oedipus at Colonus]. 401 BC, Festival of Dionysus, Athens, Greece.

Current Citation

Sophocles. "Oedipus at Colonus." The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Odeipus at Colonus, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2000.

The god
Visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.

Euripides

Phrixus

More information about this quote

Topic

Collective guilt

Author

Euripides

Source

Phrixus

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Euripides. Phrixus. 5th century BC, fragment 970.

He who knows others is wise;
He who knows himself is enlightened.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

Buy the Tao Te Ching at Amazon Buy the Tao Te Ching at Amazon
Read the Tao Te Ching at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-knowledge

Author

Lao Tzu

Source

Tao Te Ching

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Language

Chinese

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 2.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 2.

The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao;
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth;
The Named is the mother of all things.

Lao Tzu

Tao Te Ching

Buy the Tao Te Ching at Amazon Buy the Tao Te Ching at Amazon
Read the Tao Te Ching at MIT's classics department website

More information about this quote

Topic

Tao

Author

Lao Tzu

Source

Tao Te Ching

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Language

Chinese

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. 道德經 [Tao Te Ching]. c. 400 BC, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Laozi [Lao Tzu]. "The Natural Way of Lao Tzu." A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated by Wing-Tsit Chan. Princeton University Press, 1969, ch. 1.

Sons are the anchors of a mother's life.

Sophocles

Phaedra

More information about this quote

Topic

Mothers and sons Parents and children

Author

Sophocles

Source

Phaedra

Medium

Play

Genre

Greek tragedy Tragedy (play)

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Sophocles. Phaedra. c. 5th century BC, fragment 612.

Great is the glory of the woman who occasions the least talk among men, whether of praise or of blame.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon
Read History of the Peloponnesian War at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Discreet women Patriarchy

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon
Read History of the Peloponnesian War at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Love stories History

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.

Who knows but life be that which men call death, and death what men call life?

Euripides

Phrixus

More information about this quote

Topic

Life and death

Author

Euripides

Source

Phrixus

Language

Greek

Time

400 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Euripides. Phrixus. 5th century BC, fragment 830.

The great wish of some is to avenge themselves on some particular enemy, the great wish of others to save their own pocket. Slow in assembling, they devote a very small fraction of the time to the consideration of any public object, most of it to the prosecution of their own objects. Meanwhile each fancies that no harm will come of his neglect, that it is the business of somebody else to look after this or that for him; and so, by the same notion being entertained by all separately, the common cause imperceptibly decays.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon
Read History of the Peloponnesian War at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Collective action problem

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.