Between us and excellence, the gods have placed the sweat of our brows.

τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν ἀθάνατοι.

Hesiod

Works and Days

Buy Works and Days at Amazon Buy Works and Days at Amazon
Read Works and Days at Harvard's classics page

More information about this quote

Topic

Hard work Excellence Character Virtue The human condition

Author

Hesiod

Source

Works and Days

Medium

Poem

Genre

Didactic poem

Language

Greek

Time

700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Poet Writer

From

Turkey Europe Ancient Greece

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Hesiod. Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι [Works and Days]. c. 700 BC, l. 289.

Current Citation

Hesiod. "Works and Days." Theogony and Works and Days, translated by M. L. West. Oxford University Press, 2009, l. 289.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Hesiod about hard work: “Between us and excellence, the gods have placed the sweat of our brows.”
Download
A quote by Hesiod about hard work: “Between us and excellence, the gods have placed the sweat of our brows.”
Download
A quote by Hesiod about hard work: “Between us and excellence, the gods have placed the sweat of our brows.”
Download

Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about The human condition

The bonds between ourselves and another person exist only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by which we want to be duped and which, out of love, friendship, politeness, deference, duty, we dupe other people, we exist alone. Man is the creature who cannot escape from himself, who knows other people only in himself, and when he asserts the contrary, he is lying.

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

Buy The Fugitive at Amazon Buy The Fugitive at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Existential solitude Connecting with others Isolation The human condition

Author

Marcel Proust
Source
The Fugitive In Search of Lost Time
Medium
Novel
Genre
Modernist literature
Language
French
Time
1922 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Proust, Marcel. Albertine disparue [Albertine Gone]. Paris: Gallimard, 1927.

Current Citation

Proust, Marcel. The Fugitive, edited and translated by Peter Collier. Penguin Classics, 2021.

Another quote from the 8th century BC

Bad herdsmen ruin their flocks.

Homer

The Odyssey

Buy The Odyssey at Amazon Buy The Odyssey at Amazon
Read The Odyssey at MIT's classics department website
More information about this quote
Topic
Leadership Caring for others

Author

Homer
Source
The Odyssey
Medium
Poem
Genre
Epic poem
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
Greek
Time
700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Homer. Ὀδύσσεια [Odyssey]. c. 710 BC, bk. 17, l. 246.

Current Citation

Homer. The Odyssey, edited by Bernard Knox, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2006, bk. 17, l. 246.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

John 18:38

Buy the Bible (KJV) at Amazon Buy the Bible (KJV) at Amazon
Read this verse at Bible Hub
More information about this quote
Topic
Truth
Speaker
Pontius Pilate
Source
Gospel of John The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Statement Type
Question
Language
Greek
Time
90 90s 1st century
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (1st John 18:38).

Another quote originally in Greek

Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Apostle Paul

2nd Corinthians 5:17

Buy the Bible (KJV) at Amazon Buy the Bible (KJV) at Amazon
Read this verse at Bible Hub
More information about this quote
Topic
New creation

Author

Apostle Paul
Source
2nd Corinthians The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Language
Greek
Time
56 50s 1st century
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (2nd Corinthians 5:17).