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.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that truly great individuals are remembered not just by monuments but also through the impact they've had on people's hearts and minds.
Pericles emphasizes that the legacy of notable figures extends beyond physical monuments and inscriptions in their native lands. Instead, their true memorial exists in the collective memory and affection of people across the world, signifying that enduring influence comes from how they touched lives rather than just how they were commemorated in stone.
In practice
This quote can be used during a eulogy to celebrate a person's life.
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.
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 a man's counsel cannot have equal weight or worth, when he alone has no children to risk in the general danger.
Look at your hand. Its structure does not match the structure of assertions, the structure of facts. Your hand is continuous. Assertions and facts are discontinuous.... You lift your index finger half an inch; it passes through a million facts. Look at the way your hand goes on and on, while the clock ticks, and the sun moves a little further across the sky.
Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable longing to see the truth.
We don't need to 'control' free speech, we need to control ourselves.
We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting.
So it was the hand that started it all . . . His hands had been infected, and soon it would be his arms . . . His hands were ravenous.
Even the laws of justice themselves cannot subsist without mixture of injustice.
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