Sophocles Quotes

A sight to touch e’en hatred’s self with pity.

Do I not live? Badly, I know, but I live.

Long, long ago; her thought was of that child
By him begot, the son by whom the sire
Was murdered and the mother left to breed
With her own seed, a monstrous progeny.
Then she bewailed the marriage bed whereon
Poor wretch, she had conceived a double brood,
Husband by husband, children by her child.

(...) I, for one, prize less
The name of king than deeds of kingly power;
And so would all who learn in wisdom’s school.

Go then if you must, but remember, no matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still.

A prudent mind can see room for misgiving, lest he who prospers should one day suffer reverse.

But if I am young, thou shouldest look to my merits, not to my years.

One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.

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.

Reason is God's crowning gift to man, and you are right
To warn me against losing mine. I cannot say — I hope that I shall never want to say! — that you
Have reasoned badly. Yet there are other men
Who can reason, too; and their opinions might be helpful.
You are not in a position to know everything
That people say or do, or what they feel:
Your temper terrifies them — everyone
Will tell you only what you like to hear.

Not to be born is, beyond all estimation, best; but when a man has seen the light of day, this is next best by far, that with utmost speed he should go back from where he came.

I had grown accustomed to my station here.
Enduring it as if lost in a dream.
But today, my eyes have been opened.
Today, I awake.
Too long have I suffered adversity.
Pain from the actions of those entrusted with protecting me.
Forging on, my past shall not define me, even as I stand afeard a resurgence of my true vulnerabilities.
The time has come at last to abandon this isle.
To depart, never to return.
Fare thee well, O home.
Wait for my return no longer.
Onward I must proceed with strength in each footfall
Evermore haunted with the memories of the man I used to be.
For my old home is now behind me.
Faith is my new home.

Electra, grieving for death, for her father, as a nightingale grieving always.

All concerns of men go wrong when they wish to cure evil with evil.

Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man