Quotes by Sophocles

I am determined that never, if I can help it,Shall evil triumph over good. - Creon

Evil gains work their punishment.

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

Shall not ILearn place and wisdom? Have I not learned this,Only so much to hate my enemy,As though he might again become my friend,And so much good to wish to do my friend,As knowing he may yet become my foe?

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

The only crime is pride.

I didnt say yes. I can say no to anything I say vile, and I dont have to count the cost. But because you said yes, all that you can do, for all your crown and your trappings, and your guards—all that your can do is to have me killed.

There is no greater evil than mens failure to consult and to consider.

I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State.

Thou wouldst make a good monarch of a desert

For Time calls only once, and that determines all.

Haemon: No city is property of a single man.Creon: But custom gives possession to the ruler.Haemon: Youd rule a desert beautifully alone.

In a just cause the weak will beat the strong!

Your edict, King, was strong,But all your strength is weakness itself againstThe immortal unrecorded laws of God.They are not merely now: they were, and shall be,Operative for ever, beyond man utterly.I knew I must die, even without your decree:I am only mortal. And if I must dieNow, before it is my time to die,Surely this is no hardship: can anyoneLiving, as I live, with evil all about me,Think Death less than a friend?

For if any man thinks that he is alone is wise--that in speech, or in mind, he hath no peer--such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty.

Take these things to heart, my son, I warn you.All men make mistakes, it is only human.But once the wrong is done, a mancan turn his back on folly, misfortune too,if he tries to make amends, however low hes fallen,and stops his bullnecked ways. Stubbornnessbrands you for stupidity - pride is a crime.

Do not believe that you alone can be right.The man who thinks that,The man who maintains that only he has the powerTo reason correctly, the gift to speak, the soul—A man like that, when you know him, turns out empty.

Reason is Gods crowning gift to man, and you are rightTo warn me against losing mine. I cannot say—I hope that I shall never want to say!— that youHave reasoned badly. Yet there are other menWho can reason, too; and their opinions might be helpful.You are not in a position to know everythingThat people say or do, or what they feel:Your temper terrifies them—everyoneWill tell you only what you like to hear.

Alas! How sad when reasoners reason wrong.

It is but sorrow to be wise when wisdom profits not.