“A broad-backed ox can be driven straight on his road even by a small goad.”
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Famous Sophocles Quotes
“Oh death, death, why do you never come to me thus summoned always day by day?”
“Stranger in a strange country.”
Source: Sophocles I: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus
“Of no mortal say, 'That man is happy,' till vexed by no grievous ill he pass Life's goal.”
Source: Dramas of Sophocles
“To those who err in judgment, not in will, anger is gentle.”
Source: The Tragedier of Sophocles; Translated by R. Potter. A New Edition
Source: The Theban Plays: King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
“To err from the right path is common to mankind.”
Source: Dramas of Sophocles
“To know that all is well, even if late will come to know it, is at least some gain.”
“Those griefs smart most which are seen to be of our own choice.”
Source: The Complete Plays of Sophocles
“When men have killed joy, I do not believe they still live.”
“Wisdom is a dreadful thing when it brings no knowledge to its possessor.”
“Even the stout of heart shrink when they see the approach of death.”
“It is not righteousness to outrage”
Source: The Complete Greek Drama: All the Extant Tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the Comedies of Aristophanes and Menander, in a Variety of Translations
“Love, you mock us for your sport.”
Source: The Three Theban Plays: Antigone; Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus
“If to some my tale seems foolishness I am content that such could count me fool.”
Source: The Oedipus Trilogy: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
“Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.”
Source: Ten Greek Plays
“The Greeks could be a crushing bore. I recommend dressing everyone in combat fatigues or S&M gear.”
“There is no success without hardship.”
Source: Sophocles II: Ajax, The Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes, The Trackers
“One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
“The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.”
Source: The Oedipus Cycle: An English Version
“Death is not the worst evil, but rather when we wish to die and cannot.”
“No man loves life like him that's growing old.”
Source: Dramas of Sophocles
“One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession.”
Source: Sophocles
Source: Sophocles
“One's own escape from troubles makes one glad; but bringing friends to trouble is hard grief.”
“Ignorant men do not know what good they hold in their hands until they've flung it away.”
Source: Sophocles
“Ugly deeds are taught by ugly deeds.”
Source: Sophocles
“There is no witness so terrible, no accuser so powerful as conscience which dwells within us.”