Sophocles was an ancient Greek tragedian, known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides.

Sophocles Quotes

1. “Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.”
— Sophocles

2. “Remember there is no success without hard work.”
— Sophocles

3. “Laziness is the mother of all evils.”
— Sophocles

4. “Without labor nothing prospers.”
— Sophocles

5. “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse.”
— Sophocles

6. “I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating.”
— Sophocles

7. “Always desire to learn something useful.”
— Sophocles

8. “Success is dependant on effort.”
— Sophocles

9. “All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.”
— Sophocles

10. “Who seeks shall find.”
— Sophocles

11. “Stubbornness and stupidity are twins.”
— Sophocles

12. “To never have been born may be the greatest boon of all.”
— Sophocles

13. “If we always helped one another, no one would need luck.”
— Sophocles

14. “It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it.”
— Sophocles

15. “To be doing good deeds is man’s most glorious task.”
— Sophocles

16. “There is no happiness where there is no wisdom.”
— Sophocles

17. “Tomorrow is tomorrow. Future cares have future cures, And we must mind today.”
— Sophocles

18. “Look and you will find it – what is unsought will go undetected.”
— Sophocles

19. “One word Frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
— Sophocles

20. “I was not born to share the hate, but love.”
— Sophocles

21. “Kindness gives birth to kindness.”
— Sophocles

22. “You can kill a man but you cant kill a idea.”
— Sophocles

23. “Fortune cannot aid those who do nothing.”
— Sophocles

24. “The soul that has conceived one wickedness can nurse no good thereafter.”
— Sophocles

25. “The oaths of a woman I inscribe on water.”
— Sophocles

26. “Go then if you must, but remember, no matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still.”
— Sophocles

27. “Trust dies but mistrust blossoms.”
— Sophocles

28. “Chance never helps those who do not help themselves.”
— Sophocles

29. “I was born to join in love, not hate – that is my nature.”
— Sophocles

30. “One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession.”
— Sophocles

31. “What people believe prevails over the truth.”
— Sophocles

32. “No enemy is worse than bad advice.”
— Sophocles

33. “Fate has terrible power. You cannot escape it by wealth or war. No fort will keep it out, no ships outrun it.”
— Sophocles

34. “The truth is always the strongest argument.”
— Sophocles

35. “When you can prove me wrong, then call me blind.”
— Sophocles

36. “Death is not the greatest of evils; it is worse to want to die, and not be able to.”
— Sophocles

37. “Old age and the passage of time teach all things.”
— Sophocles

38. “Money: There’s nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.”
— Sophocles

39. “Quick decisions are unsafe decisions.”
— Sophocles

40. “Brave hearts do not back down back off.”
— Sophocles

41. “Not knowing anything is the sweetest life.”
— Sophocles

42. “Much wisdom often goes with fewer words.”
— Sophocles

43. “The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.”
— Sophocles

44. “The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.”
— Sophocles

45. “Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man; the power that crosses the white sea, driven by the stormy wind, making a path under surges that threaten to engulf him…”
— Sophocles

46. “Fear? What has a man to do with fear? Chance rules our lives, and the future is all unknown. Best live as we may, from day to day.”
— Sophocles

47. “Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise! This I knew well, but had forgotten it, else I would not have come here.”
— Sophocles

48. “You must remember that no one lives a life free from pain and suffering.”
— Sophocles

49. “Best to live lightly, unthinkingly.”
— Sophocles

50. “A lie never lives to be old.”
— Sophocles

51. “A human being is only breath and shadow.”
— Sophocles

52. “Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.”
— Sophocles

53. “A short saying often contains much wisdom.”
— Sophocles

54. “A wise man does not chatter with one whose mind is sick.”
— Sophocles

55. “I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect.”
— Sophocles

56. “I am the child of Fortune, the giver of good, and I shall not be shamed. She is my mother; my sisters are the Seasons; my rising and my falling match with theirs. Born thus, I ask to be no other man than that I am.”
— Sophocles

57. “A man growing old becomes a child again.”
— Sophocles

58. “Children are the anchors of a mother’s life.”
— Sophocles

59. “Success, remember is the reward of toil.”
— Sophocles

60. “If you try to cure evil with evil you will add more pain to your fate.”
— Sophocles

61. “I don’t even exist – I’m no one. Nothing.”
— Sophocles

62. “When I have tried and failed, I shall have failed.”
— Sophocles

63. “The kind of man who always thinks that he is right, that his opinions, his pronouncements, are the final word, when once exposed shows nothing there. But a wise man has much to learn without a loss of dignity.”
— Sophocles

64. “How dreadful knowledge of the truth can be when there’s no help in truth!”
— Sophocles

65. “Things gained through unjust fraud are never secure.”
— Sophocles

66. “Death is not the worst thing; rather, when one who craves death cannot attain even that wish.”
— Sophocles

67. “God’s dice always have a lucky roll.”
— Sophocles

68. “Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver.”
— Sophocles

69. “Troubles hurt the most when they prove self-inflicted.”
— Sophocles

70. “Wise thinkers prevail everywhere.”
— Sophocles

71. “Reason is God’s crowning gift to man.”
— Sophocles

72. “Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate.”
— Sophocles

73. “What greater ornament to a son than a father’s glory, or to a father than a son’s honorable conduct?”
— Sophocles

74. “It is terrible to speak well and be wrong.”
— Sophocles

75. “He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life.”
— Sophocles

76. “It can be no dishonor to learn from others when they speak good sense.”
— Sophocles

77. “A man though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.”
— Sophocles

78. “The golden eye of justice sees, and requites the unjust man.”
— Sophocles

79. “The strongest iron, hardened in the fire, most often ends in scraps and shatterings.”
— Sophocles

80. “The dice of Zeus always fall luckily.”
— Sophocles

81. “To those who err in judgment, not in will, anger is gentle.”
— Sophocles

82. “And if my present actions strike you as foolish, let’s just say I’ve been accused of folly by a fool.”
— Sophocles

83. “A cunning fellow is man, inventive beyond all expectation, he reaches sometimes evil and sometimes good.”
— Sophocles

84. “Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another.”
— Sophocles

85. “A mind at peace does not engender wars.”
— Sophocles

86. “Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all.”
— Sophocles

87. “Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, To speak dishonorably is pardonable.”
— Sophocles

88. “Ill-gotten gains work evil.”
— Sophocles

89. “Silence is an ornament for women.”
— Sophocles

90. “Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.”
— Sophocles

91. “The Most beautiful human deed, is to be useful to others.”
— Sophocles

92. “Time is a kindly God.”
— Sophocles

93. “There is no sense in crying over spilt milk. Why bewail what is done and cannot be recalled?”
— Sophocles

94. “Let a man nobly live or nobly die.”
— Sophocles

95. “Unwanted favours gain no gratitude.”
— Sophocles

96. “If my body is enslaved, still my mind is free.”
— Sophocles

97. “Man’s worst ill is stubbornness of heart.”
— Sophocles

98. “Knowledge must come through action.”
— Sophocles

99. “To err from the right path is common to mankind.”
— Sophocles

100. “How terrible it is to have wisdom when it does not benefit those who have it.”
— Sophocles

101. “Gratitude to gratitude always gives birth.”
— Sophocles

102. “For the wretched one night is like a thousand; for someone faring well death is just one more night.”
— Sophocles

103. “To me so deep a silence portends some dread event; a clamorous sorrow wastes itself in sound.”
— Sophocles

104. “A man who takes pleasure in speaking continuously fools himself in thinking he is not unpleasant to those around him.”
— Sophocles

105. “A prudent man should neglect no circumstances.”
— Sophocles

106. “I ask this one thing: let me go mad in my own way.”
— Sophocles

107. “Better to die, and sleep The never-waking sleep, than linger on And dare to live when the soul’s life is gone.”
— Sophocles

108. “It is best not to have been born at all: but, if born, as quickly as possible to return whence one came.”
— Sophocles

109. “The tyrant is a child of Pride Who drinks from his sickening cup Recklessness and vanity, Until from his high crest headlong He plummets to the dust of hope.”
— Sophocles

110. “We must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day had been.”
— Sophocles

111. “The tyrant is a child of pride.”
— Sophocles

112. “Why should man fear since chance is all in all for him, and he can clearly foreknow nothing? Best to live lightly, as one can, unthinkingly.”
— Sophocles

113. “There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old age learn to be wise.”
— Sophocles

114. “To women silence gives their proper grace.”
— Sophocles

115. “Weep not, everything must have its day.”
— Sophocles

116. “Gentle time will heal our sorrows.”
— Sophocles

117. “Profit is sweet, even if it comes from deception.”
— Sophocles

118. “Many the wonders but nothing walks stranger than man.”
— Sophocles

119. “What you can’t enforce, do not command.”
— Sophocles

120. “It is the brave man’s part to live with glory, or with glory die.”
— Sophocles

121. “I write a woman’s oaths in water.”
— Sophocles

122. “Despite so many ordeals, my advanced age and the nobility of my soul make me conclude that all is well.”
— Sophocles

123. “Wisdom is a dreadful thing when it brings no knowledge to its possessor.”
— Sophocles

124. “Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand.”
— Sophocles

125. “None love the messenger who brings bad news.”
— Sophocles

126. “Many things are formidable, and none more formidable than man.”
— Sophocles

127. “Laws can never be enforced unless fear supports them.”
— Sophocles

128. “If men live decently it is because discipline saves their very lives for them.”
— Sophocles

129. “My nails are broken, my fingers are bleeding, my arms are covered with the welts left by the paws of your guards – but I am a queen!”
— Sophocles

130. “King as thou art, free speech at least is mine. To make reply; in this I am thy peer.”
— Sophocles

131. “Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man.”
— Sophocles

132. “Bear up, my child, bear up; Zeus who oversees and directs all things is still mighty in heaven.”
— Sophocles

133. “Men should pledge themselves to nothing; for reflection makes a liar of their resolution.”
— Sophocles

134. “Thou lov’st to speak in riddles and dark words.”
— Sophocles

135. “Isn’t it the sweetest mockery to mock our enemies?”
— Sophocles

136. “Despair often breeds disease.”
— Sophocles

137. “Sleep’s the only medicine that gives ease.”
— Sophocles

138. “Stranger in a strange country.”
— Sophocles

139. “For God hates utterly the bray of bragging tongues.”
— Sophocles

140. “It is no weakness for the wisest man to learn when he is wrong.”
— Sophocles

141. “No greater evil can a man endure Than a bad wife, nor find a greater good Than one both good and wise; and each man speaks As judging by the experience of his life.”
— Sophocles

142. “The happiest life is to be without thought.”
— Sophocles

143. “Love, you mock us for your sport.”
— Sophocles

144. “Every wind is fare when we are flying from misfortune.”
— Sophocles

145. “Ignorance is a tough evil to conquer.”
— Sophocles

146. “What greater wound is there than a false friend?”
— Sophocles

147. “Zeus detests above all the boasts of a proud tongue.”
— Sophocles

148. “If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief.”
— Sophocles

149. “Wild as you are, all that love you must love you still.”
— Sophocles

150. “The curse of ignorance is that man without being good or evil is nevertheless satisfied with himself.”
— Sophocles

151. “Nothing great enters the life of mortals without a curse.”
— Sophocles

152. “Men of ill judgment ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it.”
— Sophocles

153. “Every man can see things far off but is blind to what is near.”
— Sophocles

154. “The joy that comes past hope and beyond expectation is like no other pleasure in extent.”
— Sophocles

155. “Time alone reveals the just man; but you might discern a bad man in a single day.”
— Sophocles

156. “You would rouse to anger a heart of stone.”
— Sophocles

157. “You’re dreaming, girl, lost in a moving dream.”
— Sophocles

158. “You don’t know what kind of day you will have, until evening.”
— Sophocles

159. “Afterthought makes the first resolve a liar.”
— Sophocles

160. “Obedience to authority saves many skins.”
— Sophocles

161. “Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.”
— Sophocles

162. “If you are out of trouble, watch for danger.”
— Sophocles

163. “In season, all is good.”
— Sophocles

164. “A man who deals in fairness with his own, he can make manifest justice in the state.”
— Sophocles

165. “In a just cause the weak will beat the strong.”
— Sophocles

166. “Thou shalt not ration justice.”
— Sophocles

167. “He has the thousand-yard stare.”
— Sophocles

168. “I know that you are deathly sick; and yet, sick as you are, not one is as sick as I.”
— Sophocles

169. “Alas! How sad when reasoners reason wrong.”
— Sophocles

170. “Not even Ares battles against necessity.”
— Sophocles

171. “Trouble brings trouble upon trouble.”
— Sophocles

172. “There is nothing more hateful than bad advice.”
— Sophocles

173. “Wisdom is the most important part of happiness.”
— Sophocles

174. “When I do not understand, I like to say nothing.”
— Sophocles

175. “In a just cause it is right to be confident.”
— Sophocles

176. “Therefore, while our eyes wait to see the destined final day, we must call no one happy who is of mortal race, until he has crossed life’s border, free from pain.”
— Sophocles

177. “To the person who is afraid, everything rustles.”
— Sophocles

178. “To speak much is one thing; to speak to the point another!”
— Sophocles

179. “How dangerous can false reasoning prove!”
— Sophocles

180. “No honest man will argue on every side.”
— Sophocles

181. “To revive sorrow is cruel.”
— Sophocles

182. “There is some pleasure even in words, when they bring forgetfulness of present miseries.”
— Sophocles

183. “As sight is in the eye, so is the mind in the soul!”
— Sophocles

184. “There is no such thing as the old age of the wise.”
— Sophocles

185. “True, as unwisdom is the worst of ills.”
— Sophocles

186. “The wise form right judgment of the present from what is past.”
— Sophocles

187. “Death the deliverer freeth all at last.”
— Sophocles

188. “Fortune never helps the fainthearted.”
— Sophocles

189. “The gods love those of ordered soul.”
— Sophocles

190. “Opportunity has power over all things.”
— Sophocles

191. “Whoever has a keen eye for profits, is blind in relation to his craft.”
— Sophocles

192. “Time is the great healer, you will see.”
— Sophocles

193. “I’ve never known an honest man who can plead so well for any plea whatever.”
— Sophocles

194. “The truth with all its power lives inside me.”
— Sophocles

195. “Give me a life wherever there is an opportunity to live, and better life than was my father’s.”
— Sophocles

196. “Dark, dark! The horror of darkness, like a shroud, wraps me and bears me on through mist and cloud.”
— Sophocles

197. “In his autumn before the winter comes mans last mad surge of youth.”
— Sophocles

198. “Love, unconquerable, Waster of rich men, keeper Of warm lights and all-night vigil In the soft face of a girl: Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor! Even the pure immortals cannot escape you, And mortal man, in his one day’s dusk, Trembles before your glory.”
— Sophocles

199. “Time is the only test of honest men, one day is space enough to know a rogue.”
— Sophocles

200. “Time, which sees all things, has found you out.”
— Sophocles