Where wisdom is called for, force is of little use.
Interpretation
Wisdom is more effective than physical force in resolving issues.
This quote by Herodotus emphasizes the importance of wisdom over brute strength in making decisions and solving problems. It suggests that in situations requiring careful thought and understanding, using force is not only ineffective but may also lead to undesirable outcomes, highlighting the value of knowledge and reason in human interactions.
In practice
During a debate on policy, this quote can be used to advocate for thoughtful discussion over aggressive tactics.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
It's not the situation, but whether we react, or respond, to the situation that's important.
Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters.
No one would be happier than Luther to be commended by the testimony of the time that he had been neither slack nor deceitful in maintaining the course of truth, but had shown quite enough and even too much vehemence.
Authority without wisdom is like a heavy ax without an edge -- fitter to bruise than polish.
When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. It shall exclude example and experience.
Any fool may write a most valuable book by chance, if he will only tell us what he heard and saw with veracity.
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