I love the old way best, the simple way of poison, where we too are strong as men.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a preference for fundamental and raw human experiences over complexities.
Euripides nostalgically expresses a longing for the simpler aspects of life that he associates with strength and authenticity. By referencing 'the old way' and 'poison', he emphasizes a return to primal emotions and experiences that are unfiltered, suggesting that true strength is found in embracing life's raw realities, rather than living in a complicated world divorced from essential human experiences.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a discussion about the importance of returning to basic values in a complex society.
Mankind . . . possesses two supreme blessings. First of these is the goddess Demeter, or Earth whichever name you choose to call her by. It was she who gave to man his nourishment of grain. But after her there came the son of Semele, who matched her present by inventing liquid wine as his gift to man. For filled with that good gift, suffering mankind forgets its grief; from it comes sleep; with it oblivion of the troubles of the day. There is no other medicine for misery.
Money is far more persuasive than logical arguments.
Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.
Who then will dare to say I'm weak or timid? No, they'll say I'm loyal as a friend, ruthless as a foe, so much like a hero destined for glory.
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.
There is just one life for each of us: our own.
When the last living thing Has died on account of us, How poetical it would be If Earth could say, In a voice floating up Perhaps From the floor Of the Grand Canyon, "It is done." People did not like it here.
Confirming an intuitive sense I've always felt for the interconnectedness of all things, this doctrine has provided me ways to understand the intricate web of co-arising that links one being with all other beings, and to apprehend the reciprocities between thought and action, self and universe.
The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead.
I told him I was going to betray you, and betray Lyra, and he believed me because I was corrupt and full of wickedness; he looked so deep I felt sure he'd see the truth. But I lied too well. I was lying with every nerve and fiber and everything I'd ever done...I wanted him to find no good in me, and he didn't. There is none.
Ninety percent of our lives is governed by emotion.
Language is the most imperfect and expensive means yet discovered for communicating thought.
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