Cyrus the Great Quotes

“In my experience, men who respond to good fortune with modesty and kindness are harder to find than those who face adversity with courage. For in the very nature of things, success tends to create pride and blindness in the hearts of men, while suffering teaches them to be patient and strong.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“self-confidence should always ride side by side with a strong sense of humility.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Remember the lessons of history. Remember how often whole peoples have allowed themselves to be persuaded to go to war by ‘wise’ men—and then been utterly destroyed by the very enemy they agreed to attack! Remember how many statesmen have helped raise new leadership to power—and then been overthrown by their own protégés! Remember how often leaders have chosen to treat their friends like slaves—and then perished in the revolutions caused by their idiotic methods! How many powerful men have craved to dominate the world—and by overreaching have lost everything they once possessed!”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Brevity is the soul of command.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“A man may hate cruelty and lies, but if he’s never given an opportunity to show what he’s made of, no one will remember him when he dies.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Leaders must always set the highest standard. In a summer campaign, leaders must always endure their share of the sun and the heat and, in winter, the cold and the frost. In all labors, leaders must prove tireless if they want to enjoy the trust of their followers.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War

“Truly, men often fail to understand their own weaknesses,” I said neutrally, “and their lack of self-knowledge can bring terrible disasters down on their own heads.”
― Xenophon, Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War