Alexander the Great Quotes

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