God is envious

' You know, my lord, that amongst living creatures it is the great ones that God smites with his thunder, nor does he allow them to show off. The little ones do not vex him. It is always the great buildings and the tall trees which are struck by lightning. It is God's way to bring the lofty low. Often a great army is destroyed by a little one, when God in his envy puts fear into the men's hearts, or sends a thunderstorm, and they are cut to pieces in a way they not deserve. For God tolerates pride in none but Himself '

Herodotus - Histories (VII, 10ef)

Darius of Persia the predecessor of Machiavelli

' If a lie is necessary, why not speak it? We are all after the same thing, whether we lie or speak the truth: our own advantage. Men lie when they think to profit by deception, and tell the truth for the same reason - to get something they want, and to be the better trusted for their honesty. It is only two different roads to the same goal. Were there no question of advantage, the honest man would be as likely to lie as the liar is, and the liar would tell the truth as readily as the honest man. '

Herodotus - Histories (III, 72)

Pharaoh Amasis knew how to divide time between duty and pleasure

' Archers, Amasis replied, string their bows when they wish to shoot, and unstring them after use. A bow kept always strung would break, and so be useless when it was needed. It is the same with a man; anyone who was always serious, and never allowed himself a fair share of relaxation and amusement, would suddenly go off his head, or get a stroke. It is because I know this that I divide my time between duty and pleasure. '

Herodotus - Histories (II, 173)

Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die

When the rich give a party and the meal is finished, a man carries round among the guests a wooden image of a corpse in a coffin, carved and painted to look as much as the real thing as possible, and anything from eighteen inches to three foot long; he shows it to each guest in turn, and says: 'Look upon this body as you drink and enjoy yourself; for you will be just like it when you are dead.'

Herodotus - Histories (II, 78)

Why the ancient Egyptians were the healthiest people in the world

I will describe some of their habits: every month for three successive days they purge themselves, for their health's sake, with emetics and clysters, in the belief that all diseases come from the food a man eats; and it is a fact - even apart from this precaution - that next to the Libyans they are the healthiest people in the world.

Herodotus - Histories (II, 77)

The medical system in Babylon

Next in ingenuity to the old marriage custom is their treatment of disease. They have no doctors, but bring their invalids out into the street, where anyone who comes along offers the sufferer advice on his complaint, either from personal experience or observation of a similar complaint in others. Anyone will stop by the sick man's side and suggest remedies which he has himself proved successful in whatever the trouble may be, or which he has known to succeed with other people. Nobody is allowed to pass a sick person in silence, but everyone must ask him what is the matter.

Herodotus - Histories (1,197)

How to pacify men

[...] I suggest you put a veto upon their possession of arms. Make them wear tunics under their cloaks, and high boots, and tell them to teach their sons to play the zither and harp, and to start shopkeeping. If you do that, my lord, you will soon see them turn into women instead of men [...]

Herodotus - Histories (I, 155)

The mutability of human fortune

I will proceed with my history, telling the story as I go along of small cities of men no less than great. For most of those which were great once are small today; and those which used to be small were great in my own time. Knowing, therefore, that human prosperity never abides long in the same place, I shall pay attention to both alike.

Herodotus - Histories (I, 5)