I would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity.
Alexander The GreatRead
A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient.
Interpretation
One's achievements and power are meaningless in the face of death.
This quote by Alexander the Great reflects on the futility of material success and worldly power when faced with mortality. Despite conquering vast territories and being revered as one of the greatest leaders in history, the ultimate end for everyone, including him, is death, which renders all worldly accomplishments insignificant.
In practice
During a speech on the importance of humility in success.
I would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity.
Are you still to learn that the end and perfection of our victories is to avoid the vices and infirmities of those whom we subdue?
Now you fear punishment and beg for your lives, so I will let you free, if not for any other reason so that you can see the difference between a Greek king and a barbarian tyrant, so do not expect to suffer any harm from me. A king does not kill messengers.
In the end, when it's over, all that matters is what you've done.
But truly, if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.
I am dying with the help of too many physicians.
The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.
The modern view of criminal justice, broadly, is that public concern with morality or expediency decrees expiation for the violation of a norm; this concern finds expression in the infliction of punishment on the evil doer by agents of the state, the evil doer, however, enjoying the protection of a regular procedure.
The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.
To live fixated on the future is to engage in psychological denial. It is a form of psychic violence that prepares us to accept the violence needed to ensure the maintenance of imperialist, future-oriented society.
We may not live in the past, but the past lives in us.
The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous.
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