"A human being is only breath and shadow." (Sophocles, "Ajax the Locrian" ["Aias Locrus"], cca. 5 century BC)
"A state is not a state if it belongs to one man." (Sophocles)
"All a man's affairs become diseased when he wishes to cure evils by evils." (Sophocles)
"All is disgust when one leaves his own nature and does things that misfit it." (Sophocles)
"Chance never helps those who do not help themselves." (Sophocles)
"Enemies' gifts are no gifts and do no good." (Sophocles)
"Evil gains work their punishment." (Sophocles)
"Fortune cannot aid those who do nothing." (Sophocles)
"Gratitude to gratitude always gives birth." (Sophocles)
"He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life." (Sophocles)
"How dangerous can false reasoning prove!" (Sophocles)
"How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there's no help in the truth." (Sophocles)
"In a just cause the weak will beat the strong." (Sophocles)
"It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself, and no one else, has made it." (Sophocles)
"It is best to live however one can be." (Sophocles)
"It is terrible to speak well and be wrong." (Sophocles)
"Is anyone in all the world safe from unhappiness?" (Sophocles)
"Kindness gives birth to kindness." (Sophocles)
"Knowledge must come through action; you can have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial." (Sophocles)
"Man is not constituted to take pleasure in the same things always." (Sophocles)
"Men of ill judgment ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it." (Sophocles)
"Men should pledge themselves to nothing; for reflection makes a liar of their resolution." (Sophocles)
"Money is the worst currency that ever grew among mankind. This sacks cities, this drives men from their homes, this teaches and corrupts the worthiest minds to turn base deeds." (Sophocles)
"Much wisdom often goes with fewest words." (Sophocles)
"No great thing comes without a curse" Sophocles
"No lie ever reaches old age." (Sophocles)
"No treaty is ever an impediment to a cheat." (Sophocles)
"Not knowing anything is the sweetest life." (Sophocles)
"Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed." (Sophocles)
"Old age and the passage of time teach all things." (Sophocles)
"One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try." (Sophocles)
"One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession." (Sophocles)
"Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way." (Sophocles)
"Quick decisions are unsafe decisions." (Sophocles)
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud." (Sophocles)
"Rather throw away that which is dearest to you, your own life, than turn away a good friend." (Sophocles)
"The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves." (Sophocles)
"The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities." (Sophocles)
"There is a point at which even justice does injury." (Sophocles)
"There is no witness so terrible and no accuser so powerful as conscience which dwells within us." (Sophocles)
"To be doing good deeds is man's most glorious task." (Sophocles)
"To him who is in fear everything rustles." (Sophocles)
"To throw away an honest friend is, as it were, to throw your life away." (Sophocles)
"What fate can be worse than to know we have no one but ourselves to blame for our misfortunes!" (Sophocles)
"Wisdom is the most important part of happiness." (Sophocles)
"When a man has lost all happiness, he's not alive. Call him a breathing corpse." (Sophocles)
"When trouble ends even troubles please." (Sophocles)
"Whoever understands how to do a kindness when he fares well would be a friend better than any possession." (Sophocles)
"Why should a man fear, since chance is all in all for him, and he can clearly fore-know nothing? Best to live lightly as one can, unthinking." (Sophocles)
"Wise thinkers prevail everywhere." (Sophocles)
"You win the victory when you yield to friends." (Sophocles)
