Hesiod Quotes

A sparing tongue is the greatest treasure among men. ~ Hesiod

If you add a little to a little, and then do it again, soon that little shall be much. ~ Hesiod

Do not seek evil gains; evil gains are the equivalent of disaster ~ Hesiod

There was not after all a single kind of strife, but on earth there are two kinds: one of them a man might praise when he recognized her, but the other is blameworthy. ~ Hesiod

Whoever happens to give birth to mischievous children lives always with unending grief in his spirit and heart. ~ Hesiod

For talk is evil: It is light to raise up quite easily, but it is difficult to bear, and hard to put down. No talk is ever entirely gotten rid of, once many people talk it up: It too is some god." - HESIOD ~ Stacy Schiff

A man who works evil against another works it really against himself, and bad advice is worst for the one who devised it ~ Hesiod

Aerial spirits, by great Jove design'd To be on earth the guardians of mankind: Invisible to mortal eyes they go, And mark our actions, good or bad, below: The immortal spies with watchful care preside, And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide: They can reward with glory or with gold, A power they by Divine permission hold. ~ Hesiod

For now indeed is the race of iron; and men never cease from labour and sorrow by day and from perishing by night. ~ Hesiod

And Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men too, when they, at their birth, have grey hair on their temples. ~ Hesiod

From their eyelids as they glanced dripped love. ~ Hesiod

Neither make thy friend equal to a brother; but if thou shalt have made him so, be not the first to do him wrong. ~ Hesiod

This man, I say, is most perfect who shall have understood everything for himself, after having devised what may be best afterward and unto the end. ~ Hesiod

No whispered rumours which the many spread can wholly perish. ~ Hesiod

Badness you can get easily, in quantity; the road is smooth, and it lies close by, But in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way to it. ~ Hesiod

Nobody knew how it all began, neither Homer nor Hesiod. Nor Ovid nor Vergil. But it was said that at the beginning, there was Chaos, which meant confusion & disorder, & there was Eros, which meant love. And confusion & disorder were what all those who were smitten by love [Eros] felt at the beginning & what all lovers felt when they fell out of love. Thus, it appeared that confusion & disorder [Chaos] was the flip-side of love & that Eros was the other face of chaos. And, thus, Eros & Chaos were in fact one. And the poets saw other aspects of Eros, such as Himeros[Passion or Desire], Anteros[Reciprocal or Mutual Love] & Pothos[Longing]. And they also saw other aspects of Chaos, such as Phobos[Fear] & Deimos[Terror]. And that since Eros & Chaos were one,all these aspects of the two were the aspects of love. ~ Nicholas Chong

Invite your friend to dinner; have nothing to do with your enemy. ~ Hesiod

It is from work that men are rich in flocks and wealthy, and a working man is much dearer to the immortals ~ Hesiod

Of themselves diseases come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise Zeus took away speech from them. So is there no way to escape the will of Zeus ~ Hesiod

Plan harm for another and harm yourself most, The evil we hatch always comes home to roost. ~ Hesiod

Timeliness is best in all matters. ~ Hesiod

Hunger is an altogether fit companion for the idle man. ~ Hesiod

The man who procrastinates is always struggling with misfortunes. ~ Hesiod

That man is best who sees the truth himself. Good too is he who listens to wise counsel. But who is neither wise himself nor willing to ponder wisdom is not worth a straw. ~ Hesiod

I get a little Verlaine
for Patsy with drawings by Bonnard although I do
think of Hesiod, trans. Richmond Lattimore or
Brendan Behan's new play or Le Balcon or Les Negres
of Genet, but I don't, I stick with Verlaine
after practically going to sleep with quandariness ~ Frank O'Hara

Do not get a name as overly lavish or too inhospitable. ~ Hesiod

Badness can be got easily and in shoals; the road to her is smooth, and she lives very near us. But between us and Goodness the gods have placed the sweat of our brows; ~ Hesiod

If you speak evil, you will soon be worse spoken of. ~ Hesiod

It will not always be summer; build barns. ~ Hesiod

In the race for wealth, a neighbor tries to outdo his neighbor, but this strife is good for men. For the potter envies potter, and the carpenter the carpenter, and the beggar rivals the beggar, and the singer the singer. ~ Hesiod

From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing, who hold the great and holy mount of Helicon, and dance on soft feet about the deep-blue spring and the altar of the almighty son of Cronos, and, when they have washed their tender bodies in Permessus or in the Horse's Spring or Olmeius, make their fair, lovely dances upon highest Helicon and move with vigorous feet. Thence they arise and go abroad by night, veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis-holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals and the daughter of Zeus the aegis-holder bright-eyed Athene, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon the earth-holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and quick-glancing Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the goddesses said to me - the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis: 'Shepherds of the wilderness, wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things'. ~ Hesiod

Happy is the man whom the Muses love: sweet speech flows from his mouth. ~ Hesiod

It is best to work, at whatever you have a talent for doing, without turning your greedy thought toward what some other man possesses, but take care of your own livelihood, as I advise you. ~ Hesiod

Drink your fill when the jar is first opened, and when it is nearly done, but be sparing when it is half-empty; it's a poor savingwhen you come to the dregs. ~ Hesiod

It is best to do things systematically, since we are only human, and disorder is our worst enemy. ~ Hesiod

But they who give straight judgements to strangers and to those of the land and do not transgress what is just, for them the city flourishes and its people prosper. ~ Hesiod

Work is not a shame. Laziness is a shame. ~ Hesiod

If you should put even a little on a little and should do this often, soon this would become big. ~ Hesiod

When you deal with your brother, be pleasant, but get a witness. ~ Hesiod

Keep adding little by little and it will become a big heap. ~ Hesiod

Whoever, fleeing marriage and the sorrows that women cause, does not wish to wed comes to a deadly old age. ~ Hesiod

Do not let any sweet-talking woman beguile your good sense with the fascination of her shape. It's your barn she's after. ~ Hesiod

Let it please thee to keep in order a moderate-sized farm, that so thy garners may be full of fruits in their season. ~ Hesiod

The fool knows after he's suffered. ~ Hesiod

Money is life to us wretched mortals. ~ Hesiod

Gossip is mischievous, light and easy to raise, but grievous to bear and hard to get rid of. No gossip ever dies away entirely, if many people voice it: it too is a kind of divinity." Hesiod, Works and Days ~ Carole B. Shmurak

So the people will pay the penalty for their kings' presumption, who, by devising evil, turn justice from her path with tortuous speech. ~ Hesiod

The potter is at enmity with the potter. ~ Hesiod

He is a fool who tries to match his strength with the stronger. ~ Hesiod

Never wade through the pretty ripples
of perpetually flowing
rivers, until you have looked at their lovely waters,
and prayed to them,
and washed your hands in the pale enchanting water. ~ Hesiod

Angel and Muse approach from without; the Angel sheds light and the Muse gives form (Hesiod learned of them). Gold leaf or chiton-folds: the poet finds his models in his laurel coppice. But the Duende, on the other hand, must come to life in the nethermost recesses of the blood. ~ Federico Garcia Lorca

Aegis-bearing Zeus has a design for each occasion, and mortals find this hard to comprehend. ~ Hesiod

I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint. ~ Hesiod

Invite the man that loves thee to a feast, but let alone thine enemy. ~ Hesiod

Potter is jealous of potter, and craftsman of craftsman; and the poor have a grudge against the poor, and the poet against the poet. ~ Hesiod

Justice prevails over transgression when she comes to the end of the race. ~ Hesiod

But he who neither thinks for himself nor learns from others, is a failure as a man. ~ Hesiod

Admire a small ship, but put your freight in a large one; for the larger the load, the greater will be the profit upon profit. ~ Hesiod

For a man can win nothing better than a good wife, and nothing more painful than a bad one. ~ Hesiod

A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing. ~ Hesiod

False shame accompanies a man that is poor, shame that either harms a man greatly or profits him; shame is with poverty, but confidence with wealth. ~ Hesiod

At the beginning of the cask and the end take thy fill but be saving in the middle; for at the bottom the savings comes too late. ~ Hesiod

Man's chiefest treasure is a sparing tongue. ~ Hesiod

Preserve the mean; the opportune moment is best in all things. ~ Hesiod

Acquisition means life to miserable mortals. ~ Hesiod

... Perses, hear me out on justice, and take what I have to say to heart; cease thinking of violence. For the son of Kronos, Zeus, has ordained this law to men: that fishes and wild beasts and winged birds should devour one another, since there is no justice in them; but to mankind he gave justice which proves for the best. ~ Hesiod

The artist envies what the arties gains, The bard the rival bard's successful strains. ~ Hesiod

So you, the kings, you too must reflect upon this punishment, because the immortals are here in the midst of manking, observing those who do not hold the gods in awe ... but grind each other down with crooked judgements ~ Hesiod

It is not possible either to trick or escape the mind of Zeus. ~ Hesiod

And the evil wish is most evil to the wisher. ~ Hesiod

He for himself weaves woe who weaves for others woe, and evil counsel on the counselor recoils. ~ Hesiod

Night, having Sleep, the brother of Death. ~ Hesiod

Invite your friend to a feast, but leave your enemy alone; and especially invite the one who lives near you. ~ Hesiod

Inhibition is no good provider for a needy man ~ Hesiod

Do not seek dishonest gains: dishonest gains are losses. ~ Hesiod

Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man. ~ Hesiod

There is also an evil report; light, indeed, and easy to raise, but difficult to carry, and still more difficult to get rid of. ~ Hesiod

Before there was light there was only darkness. Before there was light there was only what the Greek poet Hesiod called the "yawning nothingness," and from within this perfect eclipse the uncaused First Cause moved, constructively interfering with a portion of that eternal void which existed before space and time were named with a temperature. This unending, infinite bleakness - a blackness that the authors of the Vedas collectively identified as a type of swirling chaos, a darkness concealed in darkness - is the Creator's ancestral home. It is where He resides, within what human minds can only comprehend as the deepest of detestable disorders. That, to Him, is home. ~ John Zande

He's only harming himself who's bent upon harming another ~ Hesiod

Love those who love you, help those you help you, and give to those who give to you. ~ Hesiod

The dawn speeds a man on his journey, and speeds him too in his work. ~ Hesiod

Actions from youth, advice from the middle-aged, prayers from the aged. ~ Hesiod

Better marry a maiden, so you can teach her good manners, and in particular marry one who lives close by you. Look her well over first. Don't marry what will make your neighbors laugh at you, for while there's nothing better a man can win him than a good wife, there's nothing more dismal than a bad one. ~ Hesiod

The gods being always close to men perceive those who afflict others with unjust devices and do not fear the wrath of heaven. ~ Hesiod

We know how to speak many falsehoods that resemble real things, but we know, when we will, how to speak true things. ~ Hesiod

It is fine to draw on what is on hand, and painful to have need and not have anything there; I warn you to be carful in this. When the bottle has just been opened, and when it's giving out, drink deep; be sparing when it's half-full; but it's useless to spare the fag end. ~ Hesiod

He is happy whom the Muses love. For though a man has sorrow and grief in his soul, yet when the servant of the Muses sings, at once he forgets his dark thoughts and remembers not his troubles. Such is the holy gift of the Muses to men. ~ Hesiod

A bad neighbor is as great a calamity as a good one is a great advantage. ~ Hesiod

And here I would note the great benefit of party distinctions in saving the people at large the trouble of thinking. Hesiod divides mankind into three classes - those who think for themselves, those who think as others think, and those who do not think at all. The second class comprises the great mass of society; for most people require a set creed and a file-leader. Hence the origin of party, which means a large body of people, some few of whom think, and all the rest talk. The former take the lead and discipline the latter, prescribing what they must say, what they must approve, what they must hoot at, whom they must support, but, above all, whom they must hate; for no one can be a right good partisan who is not a thoroughgoing hater. ~ Washington Irving

The man who does evil to another does evil to himself, and the evil counsel is most evil for him who counsels it. ~ Hesiod

For here now is the age of iron. Never by daytime will there be an end to hard work and pain, nor in the night to weariness, when the gods will send anxieties to trouble us. ~ Hesiod

Often a whole community together suffers in consequence of a bad man who does wrong and contrives evil ~ Hesiod

Evil can be got very easily and exists in quantity: the road to her is very smooth, and she lives near by. But between us and virtue the gods have placed the sweat of our brows; the road to her is long and steep, and it is rough at first; but when a man has reached the top, then she is easy to attain, although before she was hard. ~ Hesiod

The half is greater than the whole. ~ Hesiod

A day is sometimes our mother, sometimes our stepmother. ~ Hesiod

There is no real agreement among scholars as to whether Homer and Hesiod were contemporaries or whether Homer came a hundred or so years later or earlier. How could there be, given that both poets recited and sang in an oral culture. ~ Tariq Ali

Harvest

Do not let a woman with a sexy rump deceive you
with wheedling and coaxing words; she is after your barn.
-Hesiod

Shall we gather the sunset
pluck what is ripe
harness the cicada's song?
Even if this isn't the season
of new love
let us remember the buds
and reap what we can.
No crop is too small.
No harvest too lean.
The grain will yield.
So scatter and slash
call in the cows
and let us milk them all dry.
Plow as you will.
Bulldoze away.
Why not make every season
our season
each day
our day
to till and tease
to clear and seed
to plant and replant
as we please.
Come
my sweet smell of hay
do not be deceived
by Hesiod.
He says that I am
after your barn.
I want the whole
fucking farm! ~ Nancy Boutilier

For both faith and want of faith have destroyed men alike. ~ Hesiod

The fool learns by suffering. ~ Hesiod

If anything, which ought not to happen, happens in your neighborhood, neighbors come as they are to help; relatives dress first. ~ Hesiod