Top 280 Aeschylus Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “Alas, poor men, their destiny. When all goes well a shadow will overthrow it. If it be unkind one stroke of a wet sponge wipes all the picture out.”

— Aeschylus

102. “Ares gives his verdict without witnesses.”

— Aeschylus

103. “Justice shines in very smoky homes, and honors the righteous; but the gold-spangled mansions where the hands are unclean she leaves with eyes averted.”

— Aeschylus

104. “Be bold and boast, just like the cock beside the hen.”

— Aeschylus

105. “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.”

— Aeschylus

106. “From a just fraud God turneth not away.”

— Aeschylus

107. “Obstinacy standing alone is the weakest of all things in one whose mind is not possessed by wisdom.”

— Aeschylus

108. “For Hades is mighty in calling men to account below the earth, and with a mind that records in tablets he surveys all things.”

— Aeschylus

109. “A tyrant’s trust dishonors those who earn it.”

— Aeschylus

110. “Of all the gods, Death only craves not gifts: Nor sacrifice, nor yet drink-offering poured Avails; no altars hath he, nor is soothed By hymns of praise. From him alone of all The powers of heaven Persuasion holds aloof.”

— Aeschylus

111. “Every ruler is harsh whose laws is new.”

— Aeschylus

112. “You shall learn, though late, the lesson of how to be discreet.”

— Aeschylus

113. “The one knowing what is profitable, and not the man knowing many things, is wise.”

— Aeschylus

114. “Beyond age, leaf withered, man goes three footed no stronger than a child is, a dream that falters in daylight.”

— Aeschylus

115. “In every enterprise is no greater evil than bad companionship.”

— Aeschylus

116. “May dawn, as the proverb goes, bring happy tidings coming from her mother night.”

— Aeschylus

117. “Respect the altar of Justice and do not, looking to profit, dishonor it by spurning with godless foot; for punishment will come upon you.”

— Aeschylus

118. “Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word – every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”

— Aeschylus

119. “For the mighty, even to give away is grace.”

— Aeschylus

120. “From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.”

— Aeschylus

121. “Wiles and deceit are female qualities.”

— Aeschylus

122. “Delay not to seize the hour!”

— Aeschylus

123. “I will speak in defense of reason: for the very child of vanity is violence.”

— Aeschylus

124. “Sweet is a grief well ended.”

— Aeschylus

125. “Nought is there in wealth That serves as bulwark ’gainst the subtle stealth Of Destiny and Doom.”

— Aeschylus

126. “On him who wields power gently, the god looks favorably from afar.”

— Aeschylus

127. “It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.”

— Aeschylus

128. “Remember to be submissive, thou art analien, a fugitive, and in need.”

— Aeschylus

129. “The power that holds the sky’s majesty wins our worship.”

— Aeschylus

130. “Old age hath stronger sense of right than youth.”

— Aeschylus

131. “We shall perish by guile just as we slew.”

— Aeschylus

132. “It is best for the wise man not to seem wise.”

— Aeschylus

133. “Destiny waits alike for the free man as well as for him enslaved by another’s might.”

— Aeschylus

134. “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.”

— Aeschylus

135. “Be it mine to draw from wisdom’s fount, pure as it flows, that calm of soul which virtue only knows.”

— Aeschylus

136. “Time in its aging course teaches all things.”

— Aeschylus

137. “Base men who prosper are unenviable.”

— Aeschylus

138. “For the poison of hatred seated near the heart doubles the burden for the one who suffers the disease; he is burdened with his own sorrow, and groans on seeing another’s happiness.”

— Aeschylus

139. “The sleeping brain has eyes that give us light; we can never see our destiny by day.”

— Aeschylus

140. “We should know what is true before we break our rage.”

— Aeschylus

141. “For a deadly blow let him pay with a deadly blow: it is for him who has done a deed to suffer.”

— Aeschylus

142. “Wisdom cometh by suffering.”

— Aeschylus

143. “I beg you, alight and join your sorrow with mine: misfortune wanders everywhere, and settles now upon one and now upon another.”

— Aeschylus

144. “It is a light thing for whoever keeps his foot outside trouble to advise and counsel him that suffers.”

— Aeschylus

145. “Only when man’s life comes to its end in prosperity can one call that man fortunate.”

— Aeschylus

146. “By the sword you did your work, and by the sword you die.”

— Aeschylus

147. “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.”

— Aeschylus

148. “Lustre of man walking proud beneath the sky diminishes to nothing and goes unregarded.”

— Aeschylus

149. “Know not to revere human things too much.”

— Aeschylus

150. “But I must bear my destiny as best I can, knowing well that there is no resisting the strength of necessity.”

— Aeschylus