Alexander the Great (born 356 BCE, Pella, Macedonia [northwest of Thessaloníki, Greece]—died June 13, 323 BCE, Babylon [near Al-Ḥillah, Iraq]) king of Macedonia (336–323 BCE), who overthrew the Persian empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms. Already in his lifetime the subject of fabulous stories, he later became the hero of a full-scale legend bearing only the sketchiest resemblance to his historical career.
Alexander the Great Quotes
1. “There is nothing impossible to him who will try.”
— Alexander the Great
2. “In the end, when it’s over, all that matters is what you’ve done.”
— Alexander the Great
3. “I would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity.”
— Alexander the Great
4. “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
— Alexander the Great
5. “Through every generation of the human race there has been a constant war, a war with fear. Those who have the courage to conquer it are made free and those who are conquered by it are made to suffer until they have the courage to defeat it, or death takes them.”
— Alexander the Great
6. “With the right attitude, self imposed limitations vanish.”
— Alexander the Great
7. “There are so many worlds and I have not yet conquered even one.”
— Alexander the Great
8. “Without Knowledge, Skill cannot be focused. Without Skill, Strength cannot be brought to bear and without Strength, Knowledge may not be applied.”
— Alexander the Great
9. “Let us conduct ourselves so that all men wish to be our friends and all fear to be our enemies.”
— Alexander the Great
10. “True love never has a happy ending, because there is no ending to true love.”
— Alexander the Great
11. “I do not steal victory.”
— Alexander the Great
12. “Bury my body and don’t build any monument. Keep my hands out so the people know the one who won the world had nothing in hand when he died.”
— Alexander the Great
13. “May God keep you away from the venom of the cobra, the teeth of the tiger, and the revenge of the Afghans.”
— Alexander the Great
14. “Toil and risk are the price of glory, but it is a lovely thing to live with courage and die leaving an everlasting fame.”
— Alexander the Great
15. “God must have loved Afghans because he made them so beautiful.”
— Alexander the Great
16. “I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.”
— Alexander the Great
17. “Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”
— Alexander the Great
18. “A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient.”
— Alexander the Great
19. “Are there no more worlds that I might conquer?”
— Alexander the Great
20. “On their side more men are standing, on ours more will fight!”
— Alexander the Great
21. “Every light is not the sun.”
— Alexander the Great
22. “But truly, if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.”
— Alexander the Great
23. “Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor earth two masters.”
— Alexander the Great
24. “The end and object of conquest is to avoid doing the same thing as the conquered.”
— Alexander the Great
25. “I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion.”
— Alexander the Great
26. “There is something noble in hearing myself ill spoken of, when I am doing well;.”
— Alexander the Great
27. “Now you fear punishment and beg for your lives, so I will let you free, if not for any other reason so that you can see the difference between a Greek king and a barbarian tyrant, so do not expect to suffer any harm from me. A king does not kill messengers.”
— Alexander the Great
28. “As for a limit to one’s labors, I, for one, do not recognize any for a high-minded man, except that the labors themselves should lead to noble accomplishments.”
— Alexander the Great
29. “I am involved in the land of a leonine and brave people, where every foot of the ground is like a well of steel, confronting my soldier. You have brought only one son into the world, but everyone in this land can be called an Alexander.”
— Alexander the Great
30. “I am dying with the help of too many physicians.”
— Alexander the Great
31. “We of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war.”
— Alexander the Great
32. “Are you still to learn that the end and perfection of our victories is to avoid the vices and infirmities of those whom we subdue?”
— Alexander the Great
33. “How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.”
— Alexander the Great
34. “I foresee a great funeral contest over me.”
— Alexander the Great
35. “Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.”
— Alexander the Great
36. “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 virtues in other respects?”
— Alexander the Great
37. “I send you a kaffis of mustard seed, that you may taste and acknowledge the bitterness of my victory.”
— Alexander the Great
38. “Glory crowns the deeds of those who expose themselves to toils and dangers.”
— Alexander the Great
39. “At Achilles tomb, O fortunate youth, to have found Homer as the herald of your glory!”
— Alexander the Great
40. “O Athenians, what toil do I undergo to please you!”
— Alexander the Great
41. “When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never take back.”
— Alexander the Great
42. “I consider not what Parmenio should receive, but what Alexander should give.”
— Alexander the Great
43. “An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.”
— Alexander the Great
44. “My treasure lies in my friends .”
— Alexander the Great
45. “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.”
— Alexander the Great
46. “Remember, upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”
— Alexander the Great
47. “If I could not be alexander I would be Diogenes.”
— Alexander the Great
48. “When my casket is being carried to the grave, leave my hands hanging outside. For empty-handed, I came into this world and empty-handed, I shall go! My whole life has been a hallow waste, a futile exercise, for no one at death can take anything with them!”
— Alexander the Great
49. “When you bury my body, don’t build any momentum and keep my hands outside so that the world knows that the person who won the whole world had nothing in his hand while dying.”
— Alexander the Great
