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Sparta Quotes

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Sparta Quotes

“And Cyrus, they say, observed: 'How much trouble you have at your dinner, grandfather, if you have to reach out your hands to all these dishes and taste all these different kinds of food!' 'Why so?' said Astyages. 'Really now, don't you think this dinner much finer than your Persian dinners?' 'No, grandfather,' Cyrus replied to this; 'but the road to satiety is much more simple and direct in our country than with you; for bread and meat take us there; but you, though you make for the same goal as we, go wandering through many a maze, up and down, and only arrive at last at the point that we long since have reached.”

PhilosophyWisdomVirtueFoodHungerTemperancePersiaSatietySpartaCyrus
Book:Cyropaedia, Volume 1, books 1-4
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“Not only poetry but also music in the ordinary sense of the term are to be controlled by a rigid censorship, and both are to be devoted entirely to strengthening the stability of the state by making the young more conscious of class discipline, and thus more ready to serve class interests. Plato even forgets that it is the function of music to make the young more gentle, for he demands such forms of music as will make them braver, i.e. fiercer. (Considering that Plato was an Athenian, his arguments concerning music proper appear to me almost incredible in their superstitious intolerance, especially if compared with a more enlightened contemporary criticism. But even now he has many musicians on his side, possibly because they are flattered by his high opinion of the importance of music, i.e. of its political power. The same is true of educationists, and even more of philosophers, since Plato demands that they should rule.) The political principle that determines the education of the soul, namely, the preservation of the stability of the state, determines also that of the body. The aim is simply that of Sparta.”

MusicCensorshipPlatoTotalitarianismAthensClass WarfareSpartaPlatonismThe RepublicClass Structure
Book:The Open Society and Its Enemies - Volume One: The Spell of Plato
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“Gli spartani non avevano ancora certo inventato la diagnosi prenatale, però avevano deciso di esporre sul monte Taigete i neonati che apparivano loro incapaci di diventare nel futuro dei bravi soldati o di generare altri combattenti per il bene di Sparta. Questo è l'unico popolo della Grecia antica che sistematicamente abbia praticato uno spietato eugenismo. Di tutte le città della Grecia, Sparta è anche l'unica a non aver lasciato all'umanità né uno scienziato, né un artista e nemmeno un segno della sua grande potenza. Perché quest'eccezione nell'antica Grecia che pure ha lasciato segni miracolosi della sua civiltà? Forse gli spartani, senza saperlo, eliminando i loro neonati malati o troppo fragili, hanno ucciso i loro musici, i loro poeti, i loro filosofi? Forse con una specie di selezione alla rovescia sono progressivamente diventati stupidi?”

SpartaAbortoEugenetica
Book:Il messaggio della vita
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“Ce siècle avait deux ans ! Rome remplaçait Sparte, Déjà Napoléon perçait sous Bonaparte, Et du premier consul, déjà, par maint endroit, Le front de l'empereur brisait le masque étroit. Alors dans Besançon, vieille ville espagnole, Jeté comme la graine au gré de l'air qui vole, Naquit d'un sang breton et lorrain à la fois Un enfant sans couleur, sans regard et sans voix ; Si débile qu'il fut, ainsi qu'une chimère, Abandonné de tous, excepté de sa mère, Et que son cou ployé comme un frêle roseau Fit faire en même temps sa bière et son berceau. Cet enfant que la vie effaçait de son livre, Et qui n'avait pas même un lendemain à vivre, C'est moi. -”

PoetryBornRomeEmperorSpartaNapoleonBonaparteBesançon
Book:Les Orientales - Les Feuilles d'automne
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“It is the teaching of the Bible and of sound Political ethics that the education of children belongs to the sphere of the family and is the duty of the parents. The theory that the children of the Commonwealth are the charge of the Commonwealth is a pagan one, derived from heathen Sparta and Platoís heathen republic, and connected by regular, logical sequence with legalized prostitution and the dissolution of the conjugal tie.”

ChildrenPoliticalParentSoundEducationTeachingDutyTheoryEthicsConnectedTiesLogicalRepublicSpheresPlatoSequenceProstitutionPaganCommonwealthDissolutionHeathenPlato SSpartaConjugal
Author:Robert Dabney
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“In all times and in all places--in Constantinople, northwestern Zambia, Victorian England, Sparta, Arabia, . . . medieval France,Babylonia, . . . Carthage, Mahenjo-Daro, Patagonia, Kyushu, . . . Dresden--the time span between childhood and adulthood, however fleeting or prolonged, has been associated with the acquisition of virtue as it is differently defined in each society. A child may be good and morally obedient, but only in the process of arriving at womanhood or manhood does a human being become capable of virtue--that is, the qualities of mind and body that realize society's ideals.”

MindHumansMayChildrenDoeHas BeensBodyProcessRealizingHuman BeingsQualityVirtueChildhoodCapableIdealsEnglandBe GoodAll TimeDefinedFranceAdulthoodWomanhoodManhoodFleetingMind And BodyMedievalAcquisitionObedientArabiaArrivingVictorianDresdenSpartaPatagoniaNorthwesternConstantinopleCarthageZambia
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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“When a rapidly rising power rivals an established ruling power, trouble ensues. In 11 of 15 cases in which this has occurred in the past 500 years, the result was war. The great Greek historian Thucydides identified these structural stresses as the primary cause of the war between Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece. In his oft-quoted insight, "It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this inspired in Sparta that made war inevitable."”

YearsMadeWarPastPoliticalPoliticsCausesResultsCasesTroubleStressInspiredAncientInsightPrimariesInevitableGreekRisingHistorianRulingGreeceRivalsAthensAncient GreeceSparta
Author:Graham T. Allison
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“An armed republic submits less easily to the rule of one of its citizens than a republic armed by foreign forces. Rome and Sparta were for many centuries well armed and free. The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom. Among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible. It is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain safe among armed servants.”

MenWellsEvilForceEnjoyCenturyCitizensSafeServantReasonableRepublicRomeSubmitSwissUnarmedGreat FreedomSparta
Author:Niccolo Machiavelli
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“Look at The Iliad, there's all this stuff about men loving children. The King of Sparta was the most brutal warrior of ancient Greece, and the only thing he liked to do was horse around with kids when he was back from slaughtering. One thing that feminism revealed is that being a distant patriarchal figure was not something men wanted to be. They want to be more involved in the lives of their children, and you can see that once they're allowed to have that connection, they crave it.”

MenWantLooksChildrenKidsWantedStuffOne ThingFeminismFiguresKingsInvolvedConnectionsHorseAncientWarriorBrutalCraveGreeceIliadAncient GreeceSpartaLoving Children
Author:Stephen Marche
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“I am firmly convinced, therefore, that to set up a republic which is to last a long time, the way to set about it is to constitute it as Sparta and Venice were constituted; to place it in a strong position, and so to fortify it that no one will dream of taking it by a sudden assault; and, on the other hand, not to make it so large as to appear formidable to its neighbors. It should in this way be able to enjoy its form of government for a long time. For war is made on a commonwealth for two reasons: to subjugate it, and for fear of being subjugated by it.”

WayShouldLongArtMadeTwoWarReasonDreamHandsGovernmentAbleLastsFormStrongEnjoyPositionLong TimeConvincedNeighborRepublicAssaultArt Of WarVeniceForms Of GovernmentFormidableCommonwealthSparta
Author:Niccolo Machiavelli
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