Bits of wisdom– or at least food for thought– from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King.
Priest
for I have seen that for the skilled of practice
the outcome of their counsels live the most.
Priest
Neither tower nor ship is anything
when empty, and none live in it together.
Creon
…things hard to bear themselves
if in the final issue all is well
I count complete good fortune.
Oedipus
…pains are most nobly taken
to help another when you have means and power.
Creon
If you think obstinacy without wisdom
a valuable possession, you are wrong.
Creon
I don’t know; and when I know nothing I
hold my tongue.
Creon
…time is the only test of honest men,
one day is space enough to know a rogue.
Creon
I see you sulk in yielding and you’re dangerous
when you are out of temper; natures like yours
are justly heaviest for themselves to bear.
Jocasta
…listen to me and learn that human beings
have no part in prophecy.
Chorus
Insolence breeds the tyrant, insolence
if it is glutted with a surfeit, unseasonable, unprofitable,
climbs to the rooftop and plunges
sheer down to the ruin that must be,
and there its feet are no service.
Chorus
If a man walks with haughtiness
of hand or word and gives no heed
to Justice and the shrines of Gods
despises– may an evil doom
smite him for his ill-starred pride of heart!–
if he reaps gain without justice
and will not hold from impiety
and his fingers itch for untouchable things.
When such things are done, what man shall contrive
to shield his soul from the shafts of the God?
When such deeds are held in honour,
why should I honour the Gods in the dance?
Creon
… It is most decent
that only kin should see and hear the troubles
of kin.
Creon
Do not seek to be master in everything,
for the things you mastered did not follow you
throughout your life.
