| John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919. |
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| Sophocles. (c. 496 B.C.–406 B.C.) |
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| 1 | | Think not that thy word and thine alone must be right. |
| Antigone, 706. |
| 2 | | Death is not the worst evil, but rather when we wish to die and cannot. |
| Electra, 1007. |
| 3 | | There is an ancient saying, famous among men, that thou shouldst not judge fully of a man’s life before he dieth, whether it should be called blest or wretched. 1 |
| Trachiniæ, 1. |
| 4 | | In a just cause the weak o’ercome the strong. 2 |
| Œdipus Coloneus, 880. |
| 5 | | A lie never lives to be old. |
| Acrisius. Frag. 59. |
| 6 | | Nobody loves life like an old man. |
| Acrisius. Frag. 63. |
| 7 | | A short saying oft contains much wisdom. 3 |
| Aletes. Frag. 99. |
| 8 | | Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all. |
| Hipponous. Frag. 280. |
| 9 | | It is better not to live at all than to live disgraced. |
| Peleus. Frag. 445. |
| 10 | | War loves to seek its victims in the young. |
| Scyrii. Frag. 507. |
| 11 | | If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief. |
| Scyrii. Frag. 510. |
| 12 | | Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. |
| Phædra. Frag. 619. |
| 13 | | The truth is always the strongest argument. |
| Phædra. Frag. 737. |
| 14 | | The dice of Zeus fall ever luckily. |
| Phædra. Frag. 809. |
| 15 | | Fortune is not on the side of the faint-hearted. |
| Phædra. Frag. 842. |
| 16 | | No oath too binding for a lover. |
| Phædra. Frag. 848. |
| 17 | | Thoughts are mightier than strength of hand. |
| Phædra. Frag. 854. |
| 18 | | A wise player ought to accept his throws and score them, not bewail his luck. |
| Phædra. Frag. 862. |
| 19 | | If I am Sophocles, I am not mad; and if I am mad, I am not Sophocles. |
| Vit. Anon. p. 64 (Plumptre’s Trans.). |
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