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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Page 882

 
 
Aeschylus. (525–456 B.C.) (continued)
 
8459
    So in the Libyan fable it is told
That once an eagle, stricken with a dart,
Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft,
“With our own feathers, not by others’ hands,
Are we now smitten.” 1
          Frag. 135 (trans. by Plumptre).
8460
    Of all the gods, Death only craves not gifts:
Nor sacrifice, nor yet drink-offering poured
Avails; no altars hath he, nor is soothed
By hymns of praise. From him alone of all
The powers of heaven Persuasion holds aloof.
          Frag. 146 (trans. by Plumptre).
8461
    O Death the Healer, scorn thou not, I pray,
To come to me: of cureless ills thou art
The one physician. Pain lays not its touch
Upon a corpse.
          Frag. 250 (trans. by Plumptre).
8462
    A prosperous fool is a grievous burden.
          Frag. 383.
8463
    Bronze is the mirror of the form; wine, of the heart.
          Frag. 384.
8464
    It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
          Frag. 385.
 
Sophocles. (c. 496 B.C.–406 B.C.)
 
8465
    Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right.
          Antigone, 706.
8466
    Death is not the worst evil, but rather when we wish to die and cannot.
          Electra, 1007.
8467
    There is an ancient saying, famous among men, that thou shouldst not judge fully of a man’s life before he dieth, whether it should be called blest or wretched. 2
          Trachiniæ, 1.
8468
    In a just cause the weak o’ercome the strong. 3
          Œdipus Coloneus, 880.
 
Note 1.
See Waller, Quotation 2. [back]
Note 2.
The saying “Call no man happy before he dies” was ascribed to Solon Herodotus, i. 32. [back]
Note 3.
See Marlowe, Quotation 2. [back]