Sophocles

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

1. Many things are wondrous. Nothing more wondrous than man.

   The chorus begins its great ode on human ability: many things are wondrous and terrible, but nothing more so than man, who crosses the gray sea in winter storms. The Greek word deinos means both amazing and dangerous. Both are true of us.

   Antigone 332-333, our translation from the Greek

2. I was born to share love, not hate.

   When Creon says an enemy stays an enemy even in death, Antigone answers that her nature is to join in love, not in hatred. It is one of the clearest lines in Greek tragedy. Choose which side of that sentence you live on.

   Antigone 523, our translation from the Greek

3. Everyone makes mistakes. The good man fixes his and doesn't dig in.

   The prophet Teiresias tells the king that erring is common to all people, but whoever errs and then repairs it, instead of staying stubborn, is neither foolish nor unlucky. The mistake is normal. Refusing to correct it is the real failure.

   Antigone 1023-1027, our translation from the Greek

4. Big words bring big blows.

   The play ends with the chorus saying that the great words of the proud are paid back with great blows. Arrogant talk invites a hard lesson. Keep your claims smaller than your results.

   Antigone 1350-1352, our translation from the Greek

5. Wisdom is by far the first part of happiness.

   The last lines of Antigone put good sense first among the parts of happiness. Creon learned it too late. Thinking clearly is not a luxury on top of a good life; it is the foundation.

   Antigone 1347-1348, our translation from the Greek

6. Live well or die well.

   Ajax says the noble man must either live with honor or die with honor, and that is all there is to say. Whatever you think of his choice, the standard is clear. There is no third option called drifting.

   Ajax 479-480, our translation from the Greek

7. Time alone shows the just man. One day shows the bad one.

   Creon tells Oedipus that only time reveals a just man, while a bad man you can recognize in a single day. Trust is built slowly and broken quickly. Judge goodness over years and badness on evidence.

   Oedipus the King 614-615, our translation from the Greek

8. What you seek can be caught. What you neglect escapes.

   Creon reports the oracle's advice: what is searched for can be found, what is ignored slips away. Attention is the difference. Whatever you stop tending, whether a skill, a friendship or your health, quietly leaves.

   Oedipus the King 110-111, our translation from the Greek

9. Without toil nothing succeeds.

   Electra tells her sister that nothing turns out well without hard work. Four Greek words, no exceptions. Luck helps, but it has to find you working.

   Electra 945, our translation from the Greek

10. Suffering, long time and a noble heart taught me to be content.

    The blind old Oedipus says he asks for little and receives less, and that is enough, because suffering, long years and nobility have taught him contentment. Hardship and time can sweeten a person instead of souring him. It depends on the third teacher.

    Oedipus at Colonus 7-8, our translation from the Greek

11. I'd rather fail doing right than win doing wrong.

    Young Neoptolemus is told to win by a lie and answers that he would rather fail acting honorably than win by foul means. It is a whole code of sport and business in a sentence. Some wins cost more than they are worth.

    Philoctetes 94-95, our translation from the Greek

12. Long uncounted time brings all things to light and hides them again.

    Ajax reflects that vast, uncounted time brings hidden things into the open and buries what was visible. Nothing stays fixed, not secrets, not reputations, not resolutions. Hold things lightly.

    Ajax 646-647, our translation from the Greek

13. The unwritten laws live forever. No one knows when they began.

    Antigone tells the king that his decrees cannot override the unwritten, unfailing laws of the gods, which are not of today or yesterday but live always. Some duties do not need a rulebook. You know them anyway.

    Antigone 454-457, our translation from the Greek

14. We who live are phantoms, a weightless shadow.

    Odysseus looks at his ruined enemy Ajax and feels pity instead of triumph, because he sees that all of us alive are only images or a light shadow. Seeing your rival brought low should humble you, not thrill you. It could be you next.

    Ajax 125-126, our translation from the Greek