QuoteProject
There is no sickness worse for me than words that to be kind must lie.
Aeschylus
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Aeschylus expresses the idea that false kindness is more harmful than any physical ailment.

This quote suggests that insincerity in communication can be more damaging than illness itself. Aeschylus highlights the importance of honesty in our interactions, implying that words meant to be kind but lacking truth create a deeper malaise in relationships and personal integrity.

Themes

HonestyTruthKindnessSincerityCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the importance of integrity in leadership, one might quote Aeschylus to emphasize the value of honesty.

More from Aeschylus

A god implants in mortal guilt whenever he wants utterly to confound a house.
AeschylusRead
Neither a life of anarchy nor a life under a despot should you praise. To all that lies in the middle has a god given excellence.
AeschylusRead
In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend.
AeschylusRead
It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
AeschylusRead
In war, truth is the first casualty.
AeschylusRead
There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.
AeschylusRead

Similar quotes

A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent; of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, and a most noble carriage; and, as I think, his age some fifty, or, by'r Lady, inclining to threescore; and now I remember me, his name is Falstaff.
William ShakespeareRead
When the doors of perception are cleansed, men will see things as they truly are, infinite.
William BlakeRead
The American birthright belongs, potentially, to everyone. This is unprecedented. Other countries accept migrants on the basis of economic necessity or as a humanitarian gesture. Only in America is it the direct consequence of our foundational ideals.
Bret StephensRead
At sixteen I was stupid, confused and indecisive. At twenty-five I was wise, self-confident, prepossessing and assertive. At forty-five I am stupid, confused, insecure and indecisive. Who would have supposed that maturity is only a short break in adolescence?
Jules FeifferRead
It is not all of life to live, nor yet all of death to die. For life and death are one, and only those who will consider the experience as one may come to understand or comprehend what peace indeed means.
Edgar CayceRead
Where is it I've read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he'd only room to stand, and the ocean, everlasting darkness, everlasting solitude, everlasting tempest around him, if he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once. Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be!
Fyodor DostoevskyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.