Sophocles > Quotes

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

“Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted.”
― Sophocles

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

“One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.”
― Sophocles

“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, Antigone

“To throw away an honest friend is, as it were, to throw your life away”
― Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

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

“If you try to cure evil with evil
you will add more pain to your fate.”
― Sophocles, Ajax

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

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

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

“I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect.”
― Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

“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, Oedipus Rex

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

“How dreadful the knowledge of the truth can be
When there’s no help in truth.”
― Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

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

“Time, which sees all things, has found you out.”
― Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
― Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus

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

“Trust dies but mistrust blossoms.”
― Sophocles

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

“It's terrible when the one who does the judging judges things all wrong.”
― Sophocles

“Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected.”
― Sophocles

“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, Oedipus Rex

“The truth is what I cherish and that's my strength”
― Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

“We have only a little time to please the living. But all eternity to love the dead.”
― Sophocles, Antigone

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

“Don't kill the messenger.”
― Sophocles, Antigone

“When he endures nothing but endless miseries-- What pleasure is there in living the day after day,
Edging slowly back and forth toward death?
Anyone who warms their heart with the glow
Of flickering hope is worth nothing at all.
The noble man should either live with honor or die with honor. That's all there is to be said.”
― Sophocles, Sophocles II: Ajax/Women of Trachis/Electra/Philoctetes

“No enemy is worse than bad advice.”
― Sophocles