When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.
Edith HamiltonRead
It was a Roman who said it was sweet to die for one's country. The Greeks never said it was sweet to die for anything. They had no vital lies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the contrasting values of Romans and Greeks regarding sacrifice for one's nation or ideals.
Edith Hamilton contrasts the Roman view of patriotic sacrifice with the Greek perspective of 'vital lies'—myths or beliefs that provide meaning and purpose to life. She suggests that while Romans glorified dying for their country, Greeks were more skeptical about such notions, implying that they sought deeper truths outside of nationalistic fervor.
Themes
SacrificePatriotismTruthValuesCulture
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about national service, one might quote this to highlight the importance of sacrifice.
More from Edith Hamilton
All quotes →The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.
Edith HamiltonRead
Theories that go counter to the facts of human nature are foredoomed.
Edith HamiltonRead
To rejoice in life, to find the world beautiful ... was a mark of the Greek spirit.
Edith HamiltonRead
Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom.
Edith HamiltonRead
So far, we do not seem appalled at the prospect of exactly the same kind of education being applied to all the school children from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but there is an uneasiness in the air, a realization that the individual is growing less easy to find; an idea, perhaps, of what standardization might become when the units are not machines, but human beings.
Edith HamiltonRead
Similar quotes
To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness.
ConfuciusRead
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
Albert EinsteinRead
Awe is the salve that will heal our eyes.
RumiRead
I've had the good fortune of teaching and preaching across much of the globe, while also struggling to make sense of my experience in my own tiny world.
Richard RohrRead
Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. Once you have determined the spiritual principles you wish to exemplify, abide by these rules as if they were laws, as if it were indeed sinful to compromise them. Don't mind if others don't share your convictions. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer.
EpictetusRead
At last I understood that the way over, or through this dilemma, the unease at writing about 'petty personal problems' was to recognize that nothing is personal, in the sense that it is uniquely one's own. Writing about oneself, one is writing about others, since your problems, pains, pleasures, emotions—and your extraordinary and remarkable ideas—can't be yours alone. [...] Growing up is after all only the understanding that one's unique and incredible experience is what everyone shares.
Doris LessingRead