Quotes from Antigone

“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, quote from Antigone

“Go then if you must, but remember, no matter how foolish your deeds, those who love you will love you still.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“A man, though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“I was born to join in love, not hate - that is my nature.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Tomorrow is tomorrow.
Future cares have future cures,
And we must mind today.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“When I have tried and failed, I shall have failed.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Leave me to my own absurdity.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“A city which belongs to just one man is no true city”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“It is not right if I am wrong. But if I am young, and right, what does my age matter?”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“I have been a stranger here in my own land: All my life”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“There is no greater evil than men's failure to consult and to consider.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Do not fear for me. Make straight your own path to destiny.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Do not believe that you alone can be right.
The man who thinks that,
The man who maintains that only he has the power
To reason correctly, the gift to speak, the soul—
A man like that, when you know him, turns out empty.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Numberless are the world's wonders, but none more wonderful than man”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“I have no love for a friend who loves in words alone.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“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.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Comprendre... Vous n'avez que ce mot-là à la bouche, tous, depuis que je suis toute petite. Il fallait comprendre qu'on ne peut pas toucher à l'eau, à la belle eau fuyante et froide parce que cela mouille les dalles, à la terre parce que cela tache les robes. Il fallait comprendre qu'on ne doit pas manger tout à la fois, donner tout ce qu'on a dans ses poches au mendiant qu'on rencontre, courir, courir dans le vent jusqu'à ce qu'on tombe par terre et boire quand on a chaud et se baigner quand il est trop tôt ou trop tard, mais pas juste quand on en a envie ! Comprendre. Toujours comprendre. Moi, je ne veux pas comprendre. Je comprendrai quand je serai vieille [...]. Si je deviens vieille. Pas maintenant.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Numberless are the world's wonders, but none
More wonderful than man; the storm gray sea
Yields to his prows, the huge crests bear him high;
Earth, holy and inexhaustible, is graven
With shining furrows where his plows have gone
Year after year, the timeless labor of stallions.

The light-boned birds and beasts that cling to cover,
The lithe fish lighting their reaches of dim water,
All are taken, tamed in the net of his mind;
The lion on the hill, the wild horse windy-maned,
Resign to him; and his blunt yoke has broken
The sultry shoulders of the mountain bull.

Words also, and thought as rapid as air,
He fashions to his good use; statecraft is his
And his the skill that deflects the arrows of snow,
The spears of winter rain: from every wind
He has made himself secure--from all but one:
In the late wind of death he cannot stand.

O clear intelligence, force beyond all measure!
O fate of man, working both good and evil!
When the laws are kept, how proudly his city stands!
When the laws are broken, what of his city then?
Never may the anarchic man find rest at my hearth,
Never be it said that my thoughts are his thoughts.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Oh it's terrible when the one who does the judging judges things all wrong.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“There is no happiness where there is no wisdom...”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Reason is God's crowning gift to a man...”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness; and reverence towards the Gods must be inviolate. Great words of prideful men are ever punished with great blows, and, in old age, teach the chastened to be wise.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“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 man
can turn his back on folly, misfortune too,
if he tries to make amends, however low he's fallen,
and stops his bullnecked ways. Stubbornness
brands you for stupidity - pride is a crime.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“It is my nature to join in love, not hate.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

“Tell me the news, again, whatever it is... sorrow and I are hardly strangers. I can bear the worst.”
― Sophocles, quote from Antigone

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