A tendency to exaggeration was a Roman trait.

It was her [Cassandras] fate always to know the disaster that was coming and be unable to avert it.

One unfortunate maiden after another beloved of the gods had had to kill her child secretly or be killed herself. The best such a one could expect was exile, and many women thought that worse than death.

A curse seemed to hang over the family, making men sin in spite of themselves and bringing suffering and death down upon the innocent as well as the guilty.

No facts, however indubitably detected, no effort of reason, however magnificently maintained, can prove that Bach's music is beautiful.

It was a Roman who said it was sweet to die for one's country. The Greeks never said it was sweet to die for anything. They had no vital lies.

The fundamental fact about the Greek was that he had to use his mind. The ancient priests had said, "Thus far and no further. We set the limits of thought." The Greeks said, "All things are to be examined and called into question. There are no limits set on thought."