The 80 best phrases of Euripides

Euripides is known to be, along with Sophocles and Aeschylus, one of the three great Greek tragic poets.

The exact place of his birth is unknown, as various sources place him in different places and years. This great writer was an avid reader throughout his life and had the largest private library in all of Greece. Your faithful friend Socrates He even said of him that he would not go to the theater if a play by Euripides himself was not represented.

• It may interest you: "The 70 best phrases of Greek Philosophers"

Great famous Euripides quotes

A great poet that, without a doubt, we should all know, but if not, Next we will reveal the 80 best phrases of Euripides, with which you can begin to discover it.

1. More jealousy gives virtue to evil than vice.

Proving that we are better than them is what hurts our enemies the most.

2. How bad is slavery always by nature, and how it supports what it should not, subjected by force!

Slavery was a practice that undoubtedly had to end; unfortunately it was finished with her too late.

3. Work is the father of glory and happiness.

Working will give us the opportunity to achieve our own goals.

4. Wealth is the thing that men honor most and the source of the greatest power.

Money and power have been the great causes of the most severe evils that have devastated humanity.

5. Enough is enough for the restrained man.

Knowing how to live with what is fair will allow us to become much happier.

6. There is nothing in the world worse than a woman, except another woman.

In ancient times women lived a life where society totally looked down on them.

7. It is harmful to superior men for a villain to achieve prestige by being able to contain the people with his tongue, someone who was previously nobody.

Greek society allowed certain men to gain a foothold within the highest ranks thanks to their own intelligence.

8. All kinds of wisdom are enclosed in goodness.

Wisdom always keeps an authentic goodness inside, because if we are really wise we will never want to do anything bad to anyone.

9. Human life is full of torments, and there is no rest in our hardships; And if it is so sweet to live, maybe the darkness of death surrounds us.

Life is a precious asset that we must know how to value and care for, because at the end of the day it is the most valuable thing we have.

10. Love is the most fruitful teacher in resources.

For love, men are capable of doing everything and giving everything, perhaps it is even the most powerful force that moves the human being.

11. Genius makes the exception the rule.

Geniuses have a way of looking at life and nature that no one else has.

12. What greater pain can there be for mortals than to see their children dead?

Losing a child is a tremendously dire experience that no one should have to go through.

13. The useless opportunist always bewitches the mob.

People who have a great gift for persuasion can be very convincing with those who do not demonstrate great intelligence.

14. I hate the learned woman. I hope that a woman who knows more than what a woman should know does not enter my house.

Man has always feared a woman more intelligent than himself, something that in modern times we certainly do not have to emulate.

15. Do not look far away, neglecting what is close to you.

That which is closest to us is also what can harm us the most.

16. In mute circumstances the good friend manifests himself.

In the most difficult circumstances is when a true friend shows us his worth.

17. Gifts are said to still persuade the gods.

A gift can help us achieve our goal by giving us a better first impression.

18. A noble man forgets past injuries.

We should not pay attention to the gossip that is commented on us, because these, in reality, do not describe us with fidelity.

19. Unhappiness is an unsolvable evil.

Unhappiness is something that usually accompanies us throughout life, because there will always be some aspect with which we are not completely satisfied in our life.

20. A good habit is stronger than a law.

Good manners can help us live a much more orderly life.

21. Oh virtue, I have followed you all my life, and at last I find that you are but a shadow!

We all want to improve as individuals over time, but sometimes we find that we don't really need it.

22. When a good man is hurt, everyone who considers himself good must suffer with him.

We must help those people who once helped us, or those who really deserve to be helped.

23. An old man is but a voice and a shadow.

Old age is a stage that we will all go through and being old does not make us less valid or worse people.

24. If you say bad things about us, you will hear many bad and true things.

We must not speak ill of third parties, as this way of acting can bring us serious harm.

25. Gifts that come from a bad man are of no benefit.

We should not make friends with people who are not worth it, a bad friendship in the long run will necessarily be negative. As the saying goes "tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are."

26. Never, among men, should language be worth more than action.

A fact is worth much more than a promise. Real friends prove their worth with deeds.

27. Noble parents have noble children.

From such a stick to such a splinter, our parents teach us to be the person we will be tomorrow.

28. I maintain, then, that mortals who do not know the hymen or the sweetnesses of fatherhood are happier than those who have children.

Fatherhood can be a very difficult task to do, it certainly brings us great joys and also great headaches. We must take being parents very seriously.

29. The king must bear in mind three things: that he governs men, that he must govern them according to law, and that he will not rule forever.

The fact of being king is like everything in life, a temporary position. Something that many ancient kings did not discover until it was too late.

30. My tongue promises, but my mind has not promised.

Do the words are gone with the wind. A promise from someone without a word has absolutely no value.

31. Of all the beings that live and think, women are the most unfortunate... A man, when he is around disgust at home, you can go out and free your spirit of boredom in dealing with his friends and those of his age. But we women cannot look except into our own hearts.

Women in ancient times were not allowed to relate the way they do today. It was undoubtedly a highly hierarchical society, where the role of women took a back seat.

32. Life is not true life, but only pain.

During our life, we will suffer on many occasions, it depends on us how much we do it and how we overcome it.

33. When calamities befall a state, the gods are forgotten and no one cares to honor them.

In the most catastrophic situations. religion takes a back seat. Who would pray while he runs for his life?

34. The man who dies is very much lacking in the family; but the woman is worth little.

In ancient times, when a woman of position was widowed, she received the lands and wealth from her husband.

35. When there is an excess of love, man loses his honor and his worth.

For love we are capable of carrying out totally dishonorable acts, even fleeing from a battle, something that is punishable by death.

36. Row in your own boat.

We must always do our part to be successful.

37. In front of a crowd, the mediocre are the most eloquent.

Liars and phonies are always the most convincing. To be able to deceive it is not necessary to be someone wise.

38. He who dies neither cries nor feels pain.

In death we all achieve peace. After it, we all stopped feeling pain or pain.

39. It is not what the speaker says, but who he is that gives weight to eloquence.

When we go to listen to a speaker with a certain reputation, we immediately believe that what he says is true.

40. The wisest men go their own way.

A great quote that undoubtedly reveals a great truth to us, we must choose our own path and be fully consistent with it.

41. The law of man's nature is equality.

We are all, men or women, completely equal to each other, deserving the same rights and dignity.

42. There is no man absolutely free. He is a slave to wealth, or fortune, or laws, or else the people prevent him from acting according to his own will.

In the end, there is always some kind of force that, as men, somehow subdues us, we are not one hundred percent free men.

43. The expected does not happen, it is the unexpected that happens.

We must always know how to prevent the unexpected, in this way we will be better prepared for it.

44. Who knows if what we call death is nothing but life; and death, instead, what do we judge to be life?

Nobody knows what really happens when we die, Euripides gives us in this quote a ray of hope, because death may not be what it seems.

45. If we could be young twice and twice old, we would correct all our mistakes.

Something that, without a doubt, we all would like to be able to do, because when we are young we are tremendously immature and when we are mature, we are not physically at our best.

46. When death approaches, the old find that old age is no longer a burden.

Death is something that young and old alike fear and abhor throughout our lives.

47. A single man is more worthy of seeing the light than infinite women.

In ancient times, having a male child was a sign of prosperity and a reason for joy.

48. When fortune smiles, what need is there for friends?

When fortune smiles on us, friends emerge from under the stones.

49. Poverty has this defect: it incites man to commit bad deeds.

When we are really poor, we will do whatever it takes to be able to prosper.

50. It is too heavy a burden for one heart to suffer for two.

We all live our own bitter sorrows, we should not also have to suffer the penalties of third parties.

51. Opulence has its misery: it is cowardly and clings to life.

When we live a life of enormous opulence, we tend to become more cowardly and treacherous. Wealth does not make us a better or more worthy person.

52. All things are born from the earth, and all things take them back.

All beings come from nature itself and in the end when we die, we inevitably become part of it again.

53. You will find many excuses, because you are a woman.

As we see in this quote, Euripides had a very particular vision of women at that time.

54. When a people works god respects it. But when a people sings, God loves them.

Work and leisure should be valued equally, we all need leisure time in our life. Leisure allows us to de-stress and relax.

55. Never call a mortal happy until you have seen how, on his last day, he descends into the grave.

Happiness is something that can really last very little, what is really difficult to achieve is being able to be happy in the long term.

56. He would agree that mortals procreate children by other means, and that there were no women, so they would be free from all evil.

Euripides thought that many of the problems of society came from women themselves.

57. Count yourself among the happy ones, the one to whom nothing bad has happened throughout the day.

In our day to day we all go through some difficult or merely unpleasant moments, no one is completely exempt from them.

58. A woman should be good for everything inside the house and useless for everything outside it.

The role of women in society at the time was basically as a housewife, outside of this role, women were not seen with good eyes.

59. Those who do not have children are spared many sufferings.

Fatherhood can entail certain sufferings, because as parents, the daily sufferings of our children are also our own.

60. Man does not live on bread, but on truth.

The truth is something that we must all seek in our lives and know how to promote, we must banish the lie from our society.

61. The rich cannot buy the privilege of dying old.

Wealth will not allow us to live longer, time is one of the few things we cannot buy.

62. Be happy: there are no more friends when one is unhappy.

We must be happy and value what we have, you never know if things could get worse tomorrow.

63. What is forced is never shameful.

When we are forced to do something, we will not be dishonored by having to do it.

64. I do not applaud envy; but I would like to be envied because of some good deed.

We should not envy anyone, we are totally perfect just as we are. Valuing those aspects that are positive about others is something that we must do.

65. Even misfortunes have to be felt in moderation.

We must take misfortunes with calm and poise, with time we will get out of them.

66. Just as our body is mortal, anger must not be immortal. Thus speak the wise.

Past water does not move mills. What one day caused us discomfort or some anger, we should not take into account after a while.

67. By maintaining that the gods exist, is it not that we deceive ourselves with lies and unreal dreams, since only chance and change itself control the world?

Believe or not in a superior being that controls the weather and what happens to us in life, depends only on our desire to do so. According to science we are nothing more than a mere chance in the universe.

68. Poorly achieved gains report losses.

If we achieve something unfairly, it will last a short time in our power.

69. Oh, precious balm of sleep, relief from ills, how I thank you for coming to me in times of need.

Rest is one of the greatest pleasures that we experience as human beings, as well as being a key aspect for our own health.

70. The best adornment of a woman is silence and modesty.

A restrained woman was well regarded by the men of antiquity, the men of then wanted a woman who was strictly limited to certain housework.

71. The man who asks the gods for death is a madman: there is nothing in death as good as the misery of life.

Valuing life is something that indeed we all must do, we only have one and the time we have in it is quite limited.

72. No mortal is happy to the end; there have been none now who do not know pain.

We all suffer during our lives a lot of misfortunes and other painful moments, nobody lives a life free of both physical and emotional pain.

73. Who wants to propose to the people a decision useful for the community? Whoever wants to do it gets the glory, whoever doesn't, keeps quiet.

Politicians make decisions that affect the whole of society, it is up to them that those decisions are correct.

74. It is a happy misfortune not to have children.

Not having children has always been seen as a negative thing since the beginning of civilization.

75. The best prophet is the one who calculates the best.

Knowing how the stars move in the universe or how nature develops, we can make predictions with great accuracy.

76. It is easier to give advice than to endure adversity.

As they say, bulls are best viewed from the sidelines. Adversities seem more difficult to overcome when you must do it yourself.

77. Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom.

When we were successful in our investigations, we showed the public that we were correct in our hypotheses.

78. Question everything, learn something, but don't expect an answer.

To truly learn something, we must sometimes discover the truth for ourselves.

79. Now that I have reached old age, how I detest it!

Old age is a stage that no person likes to experience, during it we must be positive and know how to take advantage of our free time.

80. Youth is the best time to be rich, and the best time to be poor.

When we are young, life is seen from a very hopeful prism, but over the years, that naivety gradually disappears.