| περὶ πολλοῦ ἂν ποιησαίμην, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὸ τοιούτους ὑμᾶς ἐμοὶ δικαστὰς περὶ τούτου τοῦ πράγματος γενέσθαι, οἷοίπερ ἂν ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς εἴητε τοιαῦτα πεπονθότες· |
| I would greatly value your being the kind of jurors in this case as you would be towards yourselves if you had suffered such problems. |
| Lysias Speeches 1.1 (1) |
| δυσκόλου δ’ ὄντος φύσει καὶ χαλεποῦ τοῦ βουλεύεσθαι, ἔτι πολλῷ χαλεπώτερον ὑμεῖς αὐτὸ πεποιήκατ’, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι πάντες ἄνθρωποι πρὸ τῶν πραγμάτων εἰώθασι χρῆσθαι τῷ βουλεύεσθαι, ὑμεῖς δὲ μετὰ τὰ πράγματα |
| While decision-making is difficult by its very nature, you have made it even more difficult, Athenians. Whereas others are used to deliberate before the events, you deliberate afterwards. |
| Demosthenes On the Peace 5.2 (11) |
| τὸ δὲ φοβεῖσθαι μὲν ὄχλον, φοβεῖσθαι δ’ ἐρημίαν, φοβεῖσθαι δὲ ἀφυλαξίαν, φοβεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς φυλάττοντας, καὶ μήτ’ ἀόπλους ἔχειν ἐθέλειν περὶ αὑτὸν μήθ’ ὡπλισμένους ἡδέως θεᾶσθαι, πῶς οὐκ ἀργαλέον ἐστὶ πρᾶγμα; |
| To fear the crowd but to fear solitude, to fear a lack of guards but also to fear the guards, not wanting to see people unarmed around me but also not being happy to see armed people - how is this not a terrible situation? |
| Xenophon Hiero 6.4 (13) |
| νῦν δὲ ἀπεστέρημαι μὲν τῶν ἡδομένων ἐμοὶ διὰ τὸ δούλους ἀντὶ φίλων ἔχειν τοὺς ἑταίρους, ἀπεστέρημαι δ’ αὖ τοῦ ἡδέως ἐκείνοις ὁμιλεῖν διὰ τὸ μηδεμίαν ἐνορᾶν εὔνοιαν ἐμοὶ παρ’ αὐτῶν· |
| But now I am cut off from those who had pleasure in me, since slaves instead of friends are my comrades; I am cut off from my pleasant intercourse with them, since I see in them no sign of good-will towards me. |
| Xenophon Hiero 6.3 (18) |
| θαυμαστὸν δὲ φαίνεταί μοι καὶ τὸ πεισθῆναί τινας ὡς Σωκράτης τοὺς νέους διέφθειρεν |
| It seems to me amazing that some people were convinced that Socrates corrupted the youth |
| Xenophon Memorabilia 2.2.2 (21) |
| διῆγον δ’ ἐν συμποσίοις πολλάκις μὲν μέχρι τοῦ ἐπιλαθέσθαι πάντων εἴ τι χαλεπὸν ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ βίῳ ἦν |
| I spent time at parties often until I forgot whatever was difficult in human life. |
| Xenophon Hiero 6.2 (39) |
| φοβούμενος δὲ μὴ οἱ πεμπόμενοι ἢ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ λέγειν ἀδυνασίαν ἢ καὶ μνήμης ἐλλιπεῖς γιγνόμενοι ἢ τῷ ὄχλῳ πρὸς χάριν τι λέγοντες οὐ τὰ ὄντα ἀπαγγέλλωσιν, ἔγραψεν ἐπιστολήν, νομίζων οὕτως ἂν μάλιστα τὴν αὑτοῦ γνώμην μηδὲν ἐν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ ἀφανισθεῖσαν μαθόντας τοὺς Ἀθηναίους βουλεύσασθαι περὶ τῆς ἀληθείας. |
| He feared that the messengers would not report the truth, either because of an inability to speak, or a failure of memory or from a desire to please the crowd. So he wrote a letter to make sure that the Athenians could find out his opinion without it being lost in transmission, and then be able to come to a decision about the facts of the matter. |
| Thucydides 7 8.2 (49) |
| αὐτὸ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἀποθνῄσκειν οὐδεὶς φοβεῖται, ὅστις μὴ παντάπασιν ἀλόγιστός τε καὶ ἄνανδρός ἐστιν, τὸ δὲ ἀδικεῖν φοβεῖται· |
| Nobody, except the completely irrational and cowardly, fears death itself. He fears doing wrong. |
| Plato Gorgias 522e (68) |
| φύσει μὲν γὰρ πᾶν αἴσχιόν ἐστιν ὅπερ καὶ κάκιον, οἷον τὸ ἀδικεῖσθαι, νόμῳ δὲ τὸ ἀδικεῖν. |
| In nature, everything is more shameful which is also worse, for example being wronged, whereas in law, it is doing wrong which is more shameful. |
| Plato Gorgias 483a7 (154) |
| μηδαμῶς, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοὺς πένητας ἀτιμάζετε (ἱκανὸν γὰρ αὐτοῖς τὸ πένεσθαι κακόν), μηδέ γε τοὺς ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ ζῆν ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου προαιρουμένους |
| Gentlemen of the jury, you should in no way dishonour the poor (being poor is bad enough for them), and you should also not dishonour those who have chosen to work and live on the path of righteousness. |
| Demosthenes Speeches 57.36 (239) |
| περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν πολιτειῶν (ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ ὑποτιθέμενος ἠρξάμην) οἶμαι πᾶσι δοκεῖν δεινότατον μὲν εἶναι τὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀξιοῦσθαι τοὺς χρηστοὺς καὶ τοὺς πονηρούς, δικαιότατον δὲ τὸ διωρίσθαι περὶ τούτων. |
| When it comes to types of government (after all, that's where I started my discussion), I think that everyone agrees that it is awful to consider good and bad people equal, and that it is correct to distinguish between them. |
| Isocrates Letters 3 (Nicocles) 15 (275) |
| μετὰ ταῦτα χειροτονῆσαι κελεύω δέκα πρέσβεις, καὶ ποιῆσαι τούτους κυρίους μετὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν καὶ τοῦ πότε δεῖ βαδίζειν ἐκεῖσε καὶ τῆς ἐξόδου. ἐ |
| After that I instruct you to appoint ten ambassadors, and put them jointly in charge with the generals over the timing of going there, and over the exit strategy. |
| Demosthenes Speeches 18.178 (284) |
| τὸ μέντοι σὺν τοῖς δυναμένοις καὶ μεθ’ ἵππων καὶ μετ’ ἀσπίδων ὠφελεῖν διὰ τούτων τὴν πολιτείαν πρόσθεν ἄριστον ἡγούμην εἶναι καὶ νῦν οὐ μεταβάλλομαι. |
| I used to think that helping the government together with those who have the ability, either with horses or shields was the best option, and I am not changing my mind now. |
| Xenophon Hellenica 2.3.47 (293) |
| ἀλλ’ ἐστὲ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν τούτου ἁμαρτημάτων ἤδη καταπλῆγες διὰ τὸ πολλάκις ἰδεῖν καὶ ἀκοῦσαι, ὥστε οὐδὲ τὰ δεινὰ ἔτι δεινὰ δοκεῖ ὑμῖν εἶναι. |
| You are so stupefied by having seen and heard about his crimes so often that these terrible things no longer seem terrible to you. |
| Lysias Speeches 6.50 (300) |
| καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἀγνοῶ, ὅτι ταῦτα ἀποφθέγματα οὐκ ἀξιόλογα, ἐκεῖνο δὲ κρίνω τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀγαστόν, τὸ τοῦ θανάτου παρεστηκότος μήτε τὸ φρόνιμον μήτε τὸ παιγνιῶδες ἀπολιπεῖν ἐκ τῆς ψυχῆς. |
| And I am not unaware that these phrases are hardly worth recording, but I do consider it admirable in the man that he did not lose his good sense or playfulness at the point of death. |
| Xenophon Hellenica 2.3.56 (309) |
| καίτοι θεάσασθε ὅσας συμφορὰς παρασκευάζει τὸ τῶν τοιούτων ἐθέλειν ἀκροᾶσθαι. |
| But just consider how many disasters are caused by the desire to listen to such men. |
| Demosthenes 9.53 (313) |
| συνήθης ἤδη μοί ἐστιν, ὦ Σώκρατες, διὰ τὸ πολλάκις δεῦρο φοιτᾶν |
| He is used to me by this time, Socrates, because I come here so often, |
| Plato Crito 43a (352) |
| σκόπει εἰ ἔτι μένει ἡμῖν ἢ οὔ, ὅτι οὐ τὸ ζῆν περὶ πλείστου ποιητέον ἀλλὰ τὸ εὖ ζῆν. |
| See whether we still hold to this, or not, that it is not living, but living well which we ought to consider most important. |
| Plato Crito 48b (433) |
| Σωκράτης: τὸ γάρ που κακῶς ποιεῖν ἀνθρώπους τοῦ ἀδικεῖν οὐδὲν διαφέρει.
|
| Socrates: For doing evil to people is the same thing as wronging them. |
| Plato Crito 49c (437) |
| εἴωθας χρῆσθαι τῷ ἐρωτᾶν τε καὶ ἀποκρίνεσθαι. |
| Laws: You are in the habit of employing the method of question and answer |
| Plato Crito 50d (442) |