It was a Roman who said it was sweet to die for one's country. The Greeks never said it was sweet to die for anything. They had no vital lies. Edith Hamilton More Quotes by Edith Hamilton More Quotes From Edith Hamilton Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active. Edith Hamilton belief faith inspirational To rejoice in life, to find the world beautiful ... was a mark of the Greek spirit. Edith Hamilton greek beautiful world The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat. Edith Hamilton conquer defeat evil It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought-that is to be educated. Edith Hamilton stress education life Pain is the most individualized thing on earth. It is true that it is the great common bond as well, but that realization only comes when it is over. To suffer is to be alone. To watch another suffer is to know the barrier that shuts each of us away by himself Only individuals can suffer. Edith Hamilton remembrance pain suffering Love cannot live where there is no trust. Edith Hamilton cupid bad-relationship trust Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. Edith Hamilton responsibility pay men A people's literature is the great textbook for real knowledge of them. The writings of the day show the quality of the people as no historical reconstruction can. Edith Hamilton real writing people When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again. Edith Hamilton libertarian-party freedom responsibility Old ideas are continually being slain by new facts. There is nothing stable in the conclusions of the mind, and it is impossible that there ever should be unless we hold that the universe is made to the measure of the human mind, an assumption for which nothing in the past gives any warrant. Edith Hamilton giving past ideas Uncertainty is the prerequisite to gaining knowledge and frequently the result as well. Edith Hamilton gaining-knowledge wells results In every civilization, life grows easier. Men grow lazier in consequence. We have a picture of what happened to the individual Greek. (I cannot look at history, or at any human action, except as I look at the individual.) The Greeks had good food, good witty talk, pleasant dinner parties; and they were content. When the individual man had reached that condition in Athens, when the thought not of giving to the state but of what the state could give to him, Athens' freedom was doomed. Edith Hamilton party witty men The mind knows only what lies near the heart. Edith Hamilton mind heart lying Our word 'idiot' comes from the Greek name for the man who took no share in public matters. Edith Hamilton greek names men It is not hard work that is dreary; it is superficial work. Edith Hamilton dreary superficial hard-work There are few efforts more conducive to humility than that of the translator trying to communicate an incommunicable beauty. Yet, unless we do try, something unique and never surpassed will cease to exist except in the libraries of a few inquisitive book lovers. Edith Hamilton unique humility book The fullness of life is in the hazards of life. Edith Hamilton hazards fullness life None but a poet can write a tragedy. For tragedy is nothing less than pain transmuted into exaltation by the alchemy of poetry. Edith Hamilton pain tragedy writing When faith is supported by facts or by logic it ceases to be faith. Edith Hamilton decision faith facts None so good that he has no faults, None so wicked that he is worth naught. Edith Hamilton wicked faults
