Seventy years I regard as the limit of the life of man. In these seventy years are contained, without reckoning intercalary months, twenty-five thousand and two hundred days. Add an intercalary month to every other year, that the seasons may come round at the right time, and there will be, besides the seventy years, thirty-five such months, making an addition of one thousand and fifty days. The whole number of the days contained in the seventy years will thus be twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty, whereof not one but will produce events unlike the rest. Hence, man is wholly accident.

— Herodotus

Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.

— Herodotus

The Andriana were the first of the islanders to refuse Themistocles' demand for money. He had put it to them that they would be unable to avoid paying, because the Athenians had the support of two powerful deities, one called Persuasion and the other Compulsion. The Andriana had replied that Athens was lucky to have two such useful gods, who were obviously responsible for her wealth and greatness; unfortunately, they themselves, in their small & inadequate land, had two utterly useless deities, who refused to leave the island and insisted on staying; and their names were Poverty and Inability.

— Herodotus

The destiny of man is in his own soul.

— Herodotus

The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance.

— Herodotus

The Persians are very fond of wine ... It is also their general practice to deliberate upon affairs of weight when they are drunk and then in the morning when they are sober the decision to which they came the night before is put before them by the master of the house in which it was made and if it is then approved they act on it if not they set it aside. Sometimes however they are sober at their first deliberations but in this case they always reconsider the matter under the influence of wine.

— Herodotus

The rule of the people has the fairest name of all, equality (Sonoma), and does none of the things that a monarch does. The lot determines offices, power is held accountable, and deliberation is conducted in public.

— Herodotus

This is the worst pain a man can suffer: to have insight into much and power over nothing.

— Herodotus

To think well and to consent to obey someone giving good advice are the same thing.

— Herodotus

Very few things happen at the right time and the rest do not happen at all the conscientious historian will correct these defects.

— Herodotus