10 Great Quotes from the Greek Playwright, Sophocles

Sophocles (496-406 BC)

Not many young people are made to read the Greek classics in school anymore. So I wonder how many of us today are familiar with the plays of Sophocles, who was born about 500 years before Christ and lived to be 90 years old.

He was raised in a wealthy family and so was well-educated. In his life he wrote over 120 plays, the most famous of which is probably Oedipus the King.

With such a prolific literary output, many of the things he wrote are still quoted for their wisdom. Here are 10 of my favorites...

Awareness - “Look and you will find it—what is unsought will go undetected.”

Compassion - “Kindness begets kindness.”

Composure - “There is no sense in crying over spilt milk.”

Decisiveness - "Quick decisions are unsafe decisions."

Effort - “Without labor nothing prospers.”

Honesty - "The truth is always the strongest argument."

Initiative - “Heaven never helps the men who will not act.”

Integrity - "I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating."

Love - "One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love."

Self-development - "One learns by doing a thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try."

Profound words, shared 2,500 years ago, that have never lost their validity.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2014. Building Personal Strength .