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There Is No Pain So Great As The Memory Of Joy In Present Grief.

-Aeschylus

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There Is No Pain

Aeschylus

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There Is No Pain So Great As The Memory Of Joy In Present Grief.

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Once To Die Is Better Than Length Of Days In Sorrow Without End.

Simple Is The Speech Of Truth.

There Is A Limit To The Best Of Health, Disease Is Always A Near Neighbor.

Athena: There Are Two Sides To This Dispute. I've Heard Only One Half The Argument. (...) So You Two Parties, Summon Your Witnesses, Set Out Your Proofs, With Sworn Evidence To Back Your Stories. Once I've Picked The Finest Men In Athens, I'll Return. They'll Rule Fairly In This Case, Bound By A Sworn Oath To Act With Justice.

Know Not To Revere Human Things Too Much.

Ah, Lives Of Men! When Prosperous They Glitter - Like A Fair Picture; When Misfortune Comes - A Wet Sponge At One Blow Has Blurred The Painting.

Oh, It Is Easy For The One Who Stands Outside The Prison-wall Of Pain To Exhort And Teach The One Who Suffers.

For The Impious Act Begets More After It, Like To The Parent Stock.

It Is In The Character Of Very Few Men To Honor Without Envy A Friend Who Has Prospered.

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.

For By The Will Of The Gods Fate Hath Held Sway Since Ancient Days.

As Long As There Are Men The Bulwark Is Safe.

Chorus: Zeus, Who Guided Men To Think Who Laid It Down That Wisdom Comes Alone Through Suffering. Still There Drips In Sleep Against The Heart Grief Of Memory; Against Our Pleasure We Are Temperate.

Zeus, First Cause, Prime Mover; For What Thing Without Zeus Is Done Among Mortals?

God's Most Lordly Gift To Man Is Decency Of Mind.

The Reward Of Suffering Is Experience

Time Brings All Things To Pass.

Time Management

By Suffering Comes Wisdom.

For In The Voyage Of The Heart, There Is A Freight Of Hatred, And The Wind Of Wrath Blows Shrill.

Overly Persuasive A Woman's Ordinance Spreads Far, Traveling Fast; But Fast Dying A Rumor Voiced By A Woman Perishes.

For Sufferers It Is Sweet To Know Before-hand Clearly The Pain That Still Remains For Them.

Death Is Easier Than A Wretched Life; And Better Never To Have Born Than To Live And Fare Badly.

Only One Accomplishment Is Beyond Both The Power And The Mercy Of The Gods. They Cannot Make The Past As Though It Had Never Been.

If You Pour Oil And Vinegar Into The Same Vessel, You Would Call Them Not Friends But Opponents.

If You Are Not Envied, You Are Not Enviable.

I, Schooled In Misery, Know Many Purifying Rites, And I Know Where Speech Is Proper And Where Silence.

Truly Upon Mortals Cometh Swift Of Foot Their Evil And His Offence Upon Him That Trespasseth Against Right.

For The Mighty, Even To Give Away Is Grace.

Courage! Suffering, When It Climbs Highest, Lasts Not Long.

To Be Free From Evil Thoughts Is God's Best Gift.

When A Man Takes The Road To Destruction, The Gods Help Him Along.

A God Implants In Mortal Guilt Whenever He Wants Utterly To Confound A House.

The Best By Far Is To Marry In One's Own Rank.

Delay Not To Seize The Hour!

Procrastination

But When The Dust Has Drunk The Blood Of Men, No Resurrection Comes For One Who's Dead.

In The Lack Of Judgment Great Harm Arises, But One Vote Cast Can Set Right A House.

The Seed Of Mortals Broods O'er Passing Things, And Hath Nought Surer Than The Smoke-cloud's Shadow.

But From The Good Health Of The Mind Comes That Which Is Dear To All And The Object Of Prayer-happiness.

Unanimous Hatred Is The Greatest Medicine For A Human Community.

Joy Steals Upon Me, Such Joy As Calls Forth Tears.

Don't You Know This, That Words Are Doctors To A Diseased Temperment?

I Pray The Gods Some Respite From The Weary Task Of This Long Year's Watch That Lying On The Atreidae's Roof On Bended Arm, Dog- Like, I Have Kept, Marking The Conclave Of All Night's Stars, Those Potentates Blazing In The Heavens That Bring Winter And Summer To Mortal Men, The Constellations, When They Wane, When They Rise.

It Is Easy When We Are In Prosperity To Give Advice To The Afflicted.

When A Match Has Equal Partners Then I Fear Not.

"reverence For Parents" Stands Written Among The Three Laws Of Most Revered Righteousness.

It Is A Light Thing For Whoever Keeps His Foot Outside Trouble To Advise And Counsel Him That Suffers.

Wisdom Cometh By Suffering.

But I Must Bear My Destiny As Best I Can, Knowing Well That There Is No Resisting The Strength Of Necessity.

Only Through Suffering Do We Learn

The Laws Of A State Change With The Changing Times.

Bronze Is The Mirror Of Form, Wine Of The Heart.

For A Murderous Blow Let Murderous Blow Atone.

A Great Ox Stands On My Tongue.

What Is There More Kindly Than The Feeling Between Host And Guest?

Nothing Forces Us To Know What We Do Not Want To Know Except Pain

When Strength Is Yoked With Justice, Where Is A Mightier Pair Than They?

Jars Neither Of Wine Nor Of Water Shall Fail In The Houses Of The Rich.

To Be Fortunate Is God, And More Than God To Mortals.

When A Tongue Fails To Send Forth Appropriate Shafts, There Might Be A Word To Act As Healer Of These.

Justice, Voiceless, Unseen, Seeth Thee When Thou Sleepest And When Thou Goest Forth And When Thou Liest Down. Continually Doth She Attend Thee, Now Aslant Thy Course, Now At A Later Time. These Lines Are From A Section Of Doubtful Or Spurious Fragments.

There Is Advantage In The Wisdom Won From Pain.

This Is The Law: Blood Spilt Upon The Ground Cries Out For More.

Be It Mine To Draw From Wisdom's Fount, Pure As It Flows, That Calm Of Soul Which Virtue Only Knows.

Bonds And The Pangs Of Hunger Are Excellent Prophet Doctors For The Wits.

The Man Who Does Ill, Ill Must Suffer Too.

Call No Man Happy Till He Is Dead.

Everyone's Quick To Blame The Alien.

There's Only Few People Who Have Strength To Honor Someone's Achievement Without Envy.

Alas For The Affairs Of Men! When They Are Fortunate You Might Compare Them To A Shadow; And If They Are Unfortunate, A Wet Sponge With One Dash Wipes The Picture Away.

For Hades Is Mighty In Calling Men To Account Below The Earth, And With A Mind That Records In Tablets He Surveys All Things.

Obedience Is The Mother Of Success And Is Wedded To Safety.

So In The Libyan Fable It Is Told That Once An Eagle, Stricken With A Dart, Said, When He Saw The Fashion Of The Shaft: With Our Own Feathers, Not By Others' Hands, Are We Now Smitten.

Everyone, To Those Weaker Than Themselves, Is Kind.

The Power That Holds The Sky's Majesty Wins Our Worship.

The Reward Of Pain Is Experience.

Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees.

Yet Though A Man Gets Many Wounds In Breast, He Dieth Not, Unless The Appointed Time, The Limit Of His Life's Span, Coincide; Nor Does The Man Who By The Hearth At Home Sits Still, Escape The Doom That Fate Decrees.

Black Smoke, The Flickering Sister Of Fire.

Do Not Kick Against The Pricks.

Who Apart From The Gods Is Without Pain For His Whole Lifetime's Length?

Happiness Is A Choice That Requires Effort At Times.

From A Just Fraud God Turneth Not Away.

The High Strength Of Men Knows No Content With Limitation.

In War, Truth Is The First Casualty.

Watchful Are The Gods Of All Hands With Slaughter Stained. The Black Furies Wait, And When A Man Has Grown By Luck, Not Justice, Great, With Sudden Overturn Of Chance They Wear Him To A Shade, And, Cast Down To Perdition, Who Shall Save Him?

God Lends A Helping Hand To The Man Who Tries Hard.

Against Necessity, Against Its Strength, No One Can Fight And Win.

Obstinacy Standing Alone Is The Weakest Of All Things In One Whose Mind Is Not Possessed By Wisdom.

It Is An Ill Thing To Be The First To Bring News Of Ill.

For Somehow This Is Tyranny's Disease, To Trust No Friends.

Nought Is There In Wealth That Serves As Bulwark 'gainst The Subtle Stealth Of Destiny And Doom.

Every Ruler Is Harsh Whose Laws Is New.

The Adulterer Dies. An Old Custom, Justice.

A Prosperous Fool Is A Grievous Burden.

For A Deadly Blow Let Him Pay With A Deadly Blow: It Is For Him Who Has Done A Deed To Suffer.

Don't Try To Make Intelligent Decisions When Your Brain Is Hyped

Time, Waxing Old, Doth All Things Purify.

A People's Wrath Voiced Abroad Bringeth Grave Danger, No Less Than Public Curse Pronounced.

And One Who Is Just Of His Own Free Will Shall Not Lack For Happiness; And He Will Never Come To Utter Ruin.

Nor Does Night Conceal Men's Deeds Of Ill, But Whatsoe'er Thou Dost, Think That Some God Beholds It.

They Sent Forth Men To Battle, But No Such Men Return; And Home, To Claim Their Welcome, Come Ashes In An Urn

Making It A Valid Law To Learn By Suffering.

In Few Men Is It Part Of Nature To Respect A Friend's Prosperity Without Begrudging Him.

Long Tarries Destiny, But Comes To Those Who Pray.

Wisdom Comes Through Suffering. Trouble, With Its Memories Of Pain, Drips In Our Hearts As We Try To Sleep, So Men Against Their Will Learn To Practice Moderation. Favours Come To Us From Gods.

Rumours Voiced By Women Come To Nothing.

The One Knowing What Is Profitable, And Not The Man Knowing Many Things, Is Wise.

Who Holds A Power But Newly Gained Is Ever Stern Of Mood.

To Learn Is To Be Young, However Old.

Thought Provoking

For It Would Be Better To Die Once And For All Than To Suffer Pain For All One's Life.

Human Prosperity Never Rests But Always Craves More, Till Blown Up With Pride It Totters And Falls. From The Opulent Mansions Pointed At By All Passers-by None Warns It Away, None Cries, 'let No More Riches Enter!'.

The People's Awe And Innate Fear Will Hold Injustice Back By Day, By Night, So Long As The People Leave The Laws Intact, Just As They Are: Muddy The Cleanest Spring, And All You'll Have To Drink Is Muddy Water.

The Holy Heaven Yearns To Wound The Earth, And Yearning Layeth Hold On The Earth To Join In Wedlock; The Rain, Fallen From The Amorous Heaven, Impregnates The Earth, And It Bringeth Forth For Mankind The Food Of Flocks And Herds And Demeter's Gifts; And From That Moist Marriage-rite The Woods Put On Their Bloom.

Death Hath A Fairer Fame Than A Life Of Toil.

You Have Been Trapped In The Inescapable Net Of Ruin By Your Own Want Of Sense.

But When Once The Earth Has Sucked Up A Dead Man's Blood, There Is No Way To Raise Him Up.

Too Few Rejoice At A Friend's Good Fortune.

The Wisest Of The Wise May Err.

They Who Prosper Take On Airs Of Vanity.

Those Who Would Learn Must Suffer. In Our Own Despair, Against Our Will, Wisdom Comes To Us.

It Is A Profitable Thing, If One Is Wise, To Seem Foolish.

Even The Old Should Learn.

He Hears But Half Who Hears One Party Only.

For The Marriage Bed Ordained By Fate For Men And Women Is Stronger Than An Oath And Guarded By Justice.

I Pray The Gods Will Give Me Some Relief And End This Weary Job. One Long Full Year I've Been Lying Here, On This Rooftop, The Palace Of The Sons Of Atreus, Resting On My Arms, Just Like A Dog. I've Come To Know The Night Sky, Every Star, The Powers We See Glittering In The Sky, Bringing Winter And Summer To Us All, As The Constellations Rise And Sink.

My Friends, Whoever Has Had Experience Of Evils Knows How Whenever A Flood Of Ills Comes Upon Mortals, A Man Fears Everything; But Whenever A Divine Force Cheers On Our Voyage, Then We Believe That The Same Fate Will Always Blow Fair.

You Shall Learn, Though Late, The Lesson Of How To Be Discreet.

For This Our Task Hath Fate Spun Without Fail To Last For Ever Sure, That We On Man Weighed Down With Deeds Of Hate Should Follow Till The Earth His Life Immure. Nor When He Dies Can He Boast Of Being Truly Free.

Wrong Must Not Win By Technicalities.

The Words Of Truth Are Simple.

The Evils Of Mortals Are Manifold; Nowhere Is Trouble Of The Same Wing Seen.

By Time And Age Full Many Things Are Taught.

Pleasantest Of All Ties Is The Tie Of Host And Guest.

For In Pure Maidens, Knowing Not The Marriage-bed, The Glance Of The Eyes Sinks From Shame.

On Him Who Wields Power Gently, The God Looks Favorably From Afar.

And Though All Streams Flow From A Single Course To Cleanse The Blood From Polluted Hand, They Hasten On Their Course In Vain.

When We Sleep The Soul Is Lit Up... By Many Eyes, And With Them, We Can See Everything That We Cannot See In The Daytime.

But Let The Good Prevail.

Memory Is The Mother Of All Wisdom.

The Air Is Zeus, Zeus Earth, And Zeus The Heaven, Zeus All That Is, And What Transcends Them All.

Time In His Aging Overtakes All Things Alike.

God Is Not Averse To Deceit In A Holy Cause.

The Will Was Of Zeus, The Hand Of Hephaestus.

Obedience, You Know, Is Good Luck's Mother, Wedded To Salvation, They Say.

Take Courage; Pain's Extremity Soon Ends.

There Is No Disgrace In An Enemy Suffering Ill At An Enemy's Hand, When You Hate Mutually.

For Hostile Word Let Hostile Word Be Paid.

Search Well And Be Wise, Nor Believe That Self-willed Pride Will Ever Be Better Than Good Counsel.

Words Are The Parents Of A Causeless Wrath.

Sweet Is A Grief Well Ended.

We Shall Perish By Guile Just As We Slew.

Everyone Is Ready To Speak Ill Of A Stranger.

You'll See All Other Mortal Sinners, The Ones Who Flout The Honor Owed To Gods Or Guests, Or Loving Parents--you'll See Them Get The Justice They Deserve. For Hades Holds Men Mightily To A Strict Accounting Down Below The Earth; He Sees All Things, Inscribes Them Within The Book Of His Remembering.

The Unenvied Man Is Not Enviable.

Honor Modesty More Than Your Life.

We Must Pronounce Him Fortunate Who Has Ended His Life In Fair Prosperity.

Remember To Be Submissive, Thou Art Analien, A Fugitive, And In Need.

Only When A Man's Life Comes To Its End In Prosperity Dare We Pronounce Him Happy.

Truth Is Always The First Casualty Of War.

Whoever Is Just Willingly And Without Compulsion Will Not Lack Happiness; He Will Never Be Utterly Destroyed.

When The Black And Mortal Blood Of Man Has Fallen To The Ground ... Who Then Can Sing Spells To Call It Back Again?

Arrogance Is Truly The Child Of Impiety, But From Health Of Soul Comes Happiness, Dear To All, Much Prayed For.

Married Love Between Man And Woman Is Bigger Than Oaths Guarded By Right Of Nature.

No Bribes. Nothing That Passes Under The Roof Of A Temple Or Under The Roof Of The Mouth, Can Appease Heaven's Anger Or Deflect Its Aim.

But Still The Block Of Vengeance Firm Doth Stand, And Fate, As Swordsmith, Hammers Blow On Blow.

The Act Of Evil Breeds Others To Follow, Young Sins In Its Own Likeness.

My Will Is Mine...i Shall Not Make It Soft For You.

There Is No Sickness Worse For Me Than Words That To Be Kind Must Lie.

His Resolve Is Not To Seem The Bravest, But To Be.

Old Men Are Children Once Again A Dream That Sways And Wavers Into The Hard Light Of Day.

The Field Of Doom Bears Death As Its Harvest.

Hungry Wailing Standeth Not Aloof.

Ares Ever Loves To Pluck All The Fairest Flower Of An Armed Host.

Fear Is Stronger Than Arms.

Time Cleanses What It Touches Over Time.

Success! To Thee, As To A God, Men Bend The Knee.

. . . It Is Yours Women's To Be Silent And Stay Within Doors.

It Is Always The Season For The Old To Learn.

The Truth Has To Be Melted Out Of Our Stubborn Lives By Suffering. Nothing Speaks The Truth, Nothing Tells Us How Things Really Are, Nothing Forces Us To Know What We Do Not Want To Know Except Pain. And This Is How The Gods Declare Their Love.

Ye Waves That O'er Th' Interminable Ocean Wreathe Your Crisped Smiles.

Of All The Gods Only Death Does Not Desire Gifts.

It Is Like A Woman Indeed To Take Rapture Before The Fact Is Shown For True. They Believe Too Easily, Are Too Quick To Shift From Ground To Ground; And Swift Indeed The Rumor Voiced By A Woman Dies Again.

Justice Inclines Her Scales So That Wisdom Comes At The Price Of Suffering.

On Me The Tempest Falls. It Does Not Make Me Tremble. O Holy Mother Earth, O Air And Sun, Behold Me. I Am Wronged.

I Willingly Speak To Those Who Know, But For Those Who Do Not Know I Forget.

The So-called Mother Of The Child Isn't The Child's Begetter, But Only A Sort Of Nursing Soil For The New-sown Seed. The Man, The One On Top, Is The True Parent, While She, A Stranger, Foster's A Stranger's Sprout.

And Now It Goes As It Goes And Where It Ends Is Fate. And Neither By Singeing Flesh Nor Tipping Cups Of Wine Nor Shedding Burning Tears Can You Enchant Away The Rigid Fury.

Base Men Who Prosper Are Unenviable.

Old Men Are Always Young Enough To Learn With Profit.

Few Men Have The Natural Strength To Honor A Friend's Success Without Envy.

Many Among Men Are They Who Set High The Show Of Honor, Yet Break Justice.

Words Are The Physicians Of A Mind Diseased.

When A Man Dies, Flesh Is Frayed And Broken In The Fire, But Not His Will.

For There Below Ground Sits The Dark God, Strong To Call Men To Judgment; He Sees All, And Writes It In His Memory.

The Man Whose Authority Is Recent Is Always Stern.

Oaths Are Not The Credit Of Men But Men Of Oaths.

If A Man Suffers Ill, Let It Be Without Shame; For This Is The Only Profit When We Are Dead. You Will Never Say A Good Word About Deeds That Are Evil And Disgraceful.

Know Yourself And Fit Yourself To New Fashions. For There Is A New Ruler Among The Gods.

In Every Tyrant's Heart There Springs In The End This Poison, That He Cannot Trust A Friend.

There Is A Time When Fear Is Good And Ought To Remain Seated As A Guardian Of The Heart.

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