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.
For a man's counsel cannot have equal weight or worth, when he alone has no children to risk in the general danger.
Interpretation
What this quote means
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.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
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.
More from Pericles
All quotes →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.
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