Sophocles Quotes & Sayings

A fool cannot be an actor, though an actor may act a fool's part. — Sophocles

Leave me to my own absurdity. — Sophocles

How terrible
to see the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees! — Sophocles

Whoe'er imagines prudence all his own, Or deems that he hath powers to speak and judge Such as none other hath, when they are known, They are found shallow. — Sophocles

You chose to live, I chose to die. — Sophocles

God will not punish the man Who makes return for an injury. — Sophocles

they would praise me too
if their lips weren't locked in fear.
Lucky tyrants - the perquisites of power!
Ruthless power to do and say whatever pleases them. — Sophocles

No speech can stain what is noble by nature. — Sophocles

But nothing else escapes all-ruinous time.
Earth's might decays, the might of men decays,
Honor grows cold, dishonor flourishes,
There is no constancy 'twixt friend and friend,
Or city and city; be it soon or late,
Sweet turns to bitter, hate once more to love. — Sophocles

It is best to live anyhow, as one may; do not be afraid of marriage with your mother! Many have lain with their mothers in dreams too. It is he to whom such things are nothing who puts up with life best. — Sophocles

There's no room for pride, not in a slave,
not with the lord and master standing by. — Sophocles

It has been hard, I know, my daughters, but one word alone wipes out all of the hardships: love. — Sophocles

It is not in words that I should wish my life to be distinguished, but rather in things done. — Sophocles

For the wretched one night is like a thousand; for someone faring well death is just one more night. — Sophocles

Laws can never be enforced unless fear supports them. — Sophocles

There is no witness so terrible and no accuser so powerful as conscience which dwells within us. — Sophocles

Bear up, my child, bear up; Zeus who oversees and directs all things is still mighty in heaven. — Sophocles

To never have been born would be the greatests boon of all ! — Sophocles

When ice appears out of doors, and boys seize it up while it is solid, at first they experience new pleasures. But in the end their pride will not agree to let it go, but their acquisition is not good for them if it stays in their hands. In the same way an identical desire drives lovers to act and not to act. — Sophocles

Not to be born at all
Is best, far best that can befall,
Next best, when born, with least delay
To trace the backward way.
For when youth passes with its giddy train,
Troubles on troubles follow, toils on toils,
Pain, pain forever pain;
And none escapes life's coils.
Envy, sedition, strife,
Carnage and war, make up the tale of life. — Sophocles

It made our hair stand up in panic fear. — Sophocles

Desire looks clear from the eyes of a lovely bride: power as strong as the founded world — Sophocles

Look well at this, and speak no towering word yourself against the gods, nor walk too grandly because your hand is weightier than another's, 130 or your great wealth deeper founded. One short day inclines the balance of all human things to sink or rise again. Know that the gods love men of steady sense and hate the wicked. — Sophocles

If I am Sophocles, I am not mad; and if I am mad, I am not Sophocles. — Sophocles

Fortune never helps the fainthearted. — Sophocles

War loves to seek its victims in the young. — 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

The good befriend themselves. — Sophocles

Time alone reveals the just man; but you might discern a bad man in a single day. — Sophocles

Of evils current upon earth The worst is money. Money 'tis that sacks Cities, and drives men forth from hearth and home; Warps and seduces native innocence, And breeds a habit of dishonesty. — Sophocles

Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver. — Sophocles

From suffering that has been/ Decreed no man will ever find escape — Sophocles

The weak can defeat the strong in a case as just as mine. — Sophocles

You would rouse to anger a heart of stone. — Sophocles

[S]ilence supports the accuser's charge? — Sophocles

You win the victory when you yield to friends. — Sophocles

True, as unwisdom is the worst of ills — Sophocles

Yet I pity the poor wretch, though he's my enemy. He's yoked to an evil delusion, but the same fate could be mine. I see clearly: we who live are all phantoms, fleeing shadows. — Sophocles

The kind of man who always thinks that he is right, that his opinions, his pronouncements, are the final word, when once exposed shows nothing there. But a wise man has much to learn without a loss of dignity. — Sophocles

Whatever is sought for can be caught, you know, whatever is neglected slips away. — Sophocles

Death the deliverer freeth all at last. — Sophocles

Nobly to live, or else nobly to die,Befits proud birth. — Sophocles

And remember that the captor is now the captive; the hunter is in the snare. What was won by stealth will not be kept. — Sophocles

The stubbornest of wills
Are soonest bended, as the hardest iron,
O'er-heated in the fire to brittleness,
Flies soonest into fragments, shivered through. — Sophocles

Compassion limits even the power of God. — Sophocles

A word does not frighten the man who, in acting, feels no fear. — Sophocles

A short saying often contains much wisdom. — Sophocles

Strike at a great man, and you will not miss. — Sophocles

No man loves the bearer of bad tidings. — Sophocles

Heaven never helps the man who will not help himself — Sophocles

Fortune cannot aid those who do nothing. — Sophocles

Hope has often caused the love of gain to ruin men. — Sophocles

Of no mortal say, 'That man is happy,' till vexed by no grievous ill he pass Life's goal. — Sophocles

Whoever thinks that he alone has speech, or possesses speech or mind above others, when unfolded such men are seen to be empty. — Sophocles

Unnatural silence signifies no good. — Sophocles

It is a base thing for a man among the people not to obey those in command. Never in a state can the laws be well administered when fear does not stand firm. — Sophocles

When I have tried and failed, I shall have failed. — Sophocles

Nobody loves life like an old man. — Sophocles

And if my present deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly. — Sophocles

There is a point beyond which even justice becomes unjust. — Sophocles

Every wind is fare when we are flying from misfortune. — Sophocles

Success is dependant on effort. — 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

We must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day had been. — Sophocles

When men have killed joy, I do not believe they still live. — Sophocles

Many things are formidable, and none more formidable than man. — Sophocles

It is God's giving if we laugh or weep. — Sophocles

A human being is only breath and shadow. — Sophocles

Zeus detests above all the boasts of a proud tongue. — Sophocles

Of all vile things current on earth, none is so vile as money. — Sophocles

Men of ill judgment oft ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it. — Sophocles

You must remember that no one lives a life free from pain and suffering. — Sophocles

Alas, how quickly the gratitude owed to the dead flows off, how quick to be proved a deceiver. — Sophocles

Things gained through unjust fraud are never secure. — Sophocles

To those who err in judgment, not in will, anger is gentle. — Sophocles

All a man's affairs become diseased when he wishes to cure evils by evils. — Sophocles

Haemon: No city is property of a single man.
Creon: But custom gives possession to the ruler.
Haemon: You'd rule a desert beautifully alone. — Sophocles

Even the stout of heart shrink when they see the approach of death. — Sophocles

A friend in word is never friend of mine. — Sophocles

It is best not to have been born at all: but, if born, as quickly as possible to return whence one came. — Sophocles

There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money. — Sophocles

But this is a true saying among men: the gifts of enemies are no gifts and profitless. — Sophocles

The wise form right judgment of the present from what is past. — Sophocles

I was not born to share the hate, but love. — Sophocles

Alas for the seed of man. — Sophocles

For God hates utterly the bray of bragging tongues. — Sophocles

Unwanted favours gain no gratitude. — Sophocles

Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue. — Sophocles

No oath can be too binding for a lover. — Sophocles

Time, which sees all things, has found you out. — Sophocles

If you try to cure evil with evil
you will add more pain to your fate. — Sophocles

To give birth is a fearsome thing; there is no hating the child one has borne even when injured by it. — Sophocles

No lie ever reaches old age. — Sophocles

But whoever gives birth to useless children, what would you say of him except that he has bred sorrows for himself, and furnishes laughter for his enemies. — Sophocles

Opportunity has power over all things. — Sophocles

I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect. — Sophocles

When I do not understand, I like to say nothing. — Sophocles

Sleep, thou patron of mankind, Great physician of the mind Who does nor pain nor sorrow know, Sweetest balm of every woe. — Sophocles

Opinions have greater power than strength of hands. — Sophocles

There let her pray to the one god she worships: Death
who knows?
may just reprieve her from death. Or she may learn a last, better late than never, what a waste of breath it is to worship Death. — Sophocles