“Historia (Inquiry); so that the actions of of people will not fade with time.”

“Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.”

“Now it happened that this Candaules was in love with his own wife; and not only so, but thought her the fairest woman in the whole world. This fancy had strange consequences.”

“Denn wenn man an alle Völker der Erde die Aufforderung ergehen liesse, sich unter all den verschiedenen Sitten die vorzüglichsten auszuwählen, so würde jedes, nachdem es alle geprüft, die seinigen allen anderen vorziehen. So sehr ist jedes Volk überzeugt, dass seine Lebensformen die besten sind. Wie kann daher ein Mensch mit gesunden Sinnen über solche Dinge spotten!”

“He asked, 'Croesus, who told you to attack my land and meet me as an enemy instead of a friend?'The King replied, 'It was caused by your good fate and my bad fate. It was the fault of the Greek gods, who with their arrogance, encouraged me to march onto your lands. Nobody is mad enough to choose war whilst there is peace. During times of peace, the sons bury their fathers, but in war it is the fathers who send their sons to the grave.”

“It is the greatest and the tallest of trees that the gods bring low with bolts and thunder. For the gods love to thwart whatever is greater than the rest. They do not suffer pride in anyone but themselves.”

“Men trust their ears less than their eyes.”