When men are once checked in what they consider their special excellence, their whole opinion of themselves suffers more than if they had not at firs… - Thucydides

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When men are once checked in what they consider their special excellence, their whole opinion of themselves suffers more than if they had not at first believed in their superiority, the unexpected shock to their pride causing them to give way more than their real strength warrants; and that is probably now the case with the Athenians.

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About Thucydides

Thucydides (or Thoukydides)(c. 472 BC – c. 400 BC) was an ancient Greek historian, author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. This work is widely regarded a classic and represents the first work of its kind.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: Θουκυδίδης
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The Society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.

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