For a man's counsel cannot have equal weight or worth, when he alone has no children to risk in the general danger.
Interpretation
A person's advice lacks value if they do not share in the risks and responsibilities of others.
In this quote, Pericles highlights the importance of shared experiences and responsibilities when it comes to leadership and decision-making. He suggests that those who do not have personal stakes in the outcomes of their counsel—such as having children to protect—are less qualified to offer valuable advice, especially in matters that affect the community or society at large. This underscores the idea that true wisdom comes not only from knowledge but also from personal investment in the issues being addressed.
In practice
During a community meeting on education policy, you might quote Pericles to emphasize the need for leaders to consider the impact of their decisions on families.
For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart.
Just because you are not interested in politics, does not mean that politics is not interested in you.
Famous men have the whole earth as their memorial.
Not to be able to bear poverty is a shameful thing, but not to know how to chase it away by work is a more shameful thing yet.
Those who are politically apathetic can only survive if they are supported by people who are capable of taking action.
For the whole earth is the tomb of famous men; not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.
There is a spiritual side to me that goes real deep, but I confess right up front that I'm the biggest sinner of them all.
There is little less trouble in governing a private family than a whole kingdom.
People 'demand' the opportunity to gamble away money they do not have, just like people 'demand' money from loan sharks at extortionate interest rates. This is a warped, empty type of freedom, in which the powerful are free to exploit the vulnerable.
But I know what darkness is, it accumulates, thickens, then suddenly bursts and drowns everything.
It is easy to think of potatoes, and fortunately for men who have not much money it is easy to think of them with a certain safety. Potatoes are one of the last things to disappear, in times of war, which is probably why they should not be forgotten in times of peace.
I am proud to call myself a Hindu, I am proud that I am one of your unworthy servants. I am proud that I am a countryman of yours, you the descendants of the sages, you the descendants of the most glorious Rishis the world ever saw. Therefore have faith in yourselves, be proud of your ancestors, instead of being ashamed of them.
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