Life Quotes, page 149

“With the right attitude, self-imposed limitations vanish.”

“Not every light is the sun.”

“As for a limit to one's labors, I do not recognize any for a high-minded man, except that the labors themselves should lead to noble accomplishments.”

“In the end, when it's over, all that matters is what you've done.”

“How can a man groom his horse or polish his spear and helmet if he grows unaccustomed to tending his own person, his most treasured possession?”

“Now that the wars are coming to an end, I wish you to prosper in peace. May all mortals from now on live like one people in concord and for mutual advancement. Consider the world as your country, with laws common to all and where the best will govern irrespective of tribe. I do not distinguish among men, as the narrow-minded do, both among Greeks and barbarians. I am not interested in the descent of the citizens or their racial origins. I classify them using one criterion: their virtue. For me every virtuous foreigner is a Greek and every evil Greek is worse than a barbarian. If differences ever develop between you, never have recourse to arms, but solve them peacefully. If necessary, I should be your arbitrator.”

“Now you fear punishment and beg for your lives. I will let you go — not out of pity, but so you can see the difference between a Greek king and a barbarian tyrant. Do not expect to suffer harm from me. A king does not kill messengers.”

“When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never take back.”

“If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Diogenes.”

“For as a newborn babe cannot be nourished without the nurse's milk, nor conducted to the approaches that lead to growth in life, so a city cannot thrive without fields and the fruits thereof pouring into its walls.”

“The end and object of conquest is to avoid doing the same thing as the conquered.”

“Toil and risk are the price of glory, but it is a lovely thing to live with courage and die leaving an everlasting fame.”

“When you bury my body, do not build any monument; keep my hands outside so the world knows the man who conquered the world died with empty hands.”

“I consider not what Parmenio should receive, but what Alexander should give.”

“I am in the land of leonine, brave people, where every foot of ground is like a well of steel confronting my soldiers. You have brought only one son into the world, but everyone in this land can be called an Alexander.”

“Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expedition you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your other virtues?”

“At Achilles' tomb, O fortunate youth, to have found Homer as the herald of your glory!”

“For my part, I think that to a man of spirit there is no other aim and end of his labours except the labours themselves.”

“I wish that the Indians believed me a god, for upon the report of an enemy's valor oftentimes depends the success of a battle, and false reports have many times done as great things as true courage and resolution.”

“It is better to have no women to dinner at all than to have only ugly ones.”

“The best prophet is he who guesses well.”

“Empty your cup so it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality.”

“The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits.”

“Live a life worth remembering.”

“Ultimately, the greatest help is self-help.”

“If you knew you had to fight for your life tomorrow, would you change your training today?”

“Now I see that I will never find the light unless, like the candle, I am my own fuel, consuming myself.”

“True refinement seeks simplicity.”

“Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”

“When the finger points at the moon, don't look at the finger — you'll miss the moon.”