MEDEA: I know indeed what evil I intend to do,
But stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury,
Fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: Καὶ μανθάνω μὲν οἷα τολμήσω κακά,
θυμὸς δὲ κρείσσων τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων,
ὅσπερ μεγίστων αἴτιος κακῶν βροτοῖς.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 1078ff (431 BC) [tr. Warner (1944)]
(Source)
As she is about to murder her children as part of her revenge on Jason, their father.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:I now am well aware
What crimes I venture on: but rage, the cause
Of woes most grievous to the human race,
Over my better reason hath prevail'd.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]I know, I feel the ills, my soul now dares;
But rage, which lords it ov'er my breast, gives birth
To all the dreadful ills that chasten man.
[tr. Potter (1814)]Oh I do know what sorrows I shall make,
But anger keeps the mastery of my thoughts,
Which is the chiefest cause of human woes.
[tr. Webster (1868)]At last I understand the awful deed I am to do; but passion, that cause of direst woes to mortal man, hath triumphed o'er my sober thoughts.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]I know indeed the ills that I am about to dare, but my rage is master of my counsels, which is indeed the cause of the greatest calamities to men.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]I know, indeed, the evil of that I purpose; but my inclination gets the better of my judgment.
[Bartlett's (1892)]Now, now, I learn what horrors I intend:
But passion overmastereth sober thought:
And this is cause of direst ills to men.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Yea, I know to what bad things
I go, but louder than all thought doth cry
Anger, which maketh man's worst misery.
[tr. Murray (1906)]I understand
The horror of what I am going to do; but anger,
The spring of all life's horror, masters my resolve.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]I understand how evilly I am about to act,
But my spirit is stronger than my will to resist,
Spirit, the greatest cause of evil for men.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]And I know well what pain I am about to undergo, but my wrath overbears my calculation, wrath that brings mortal men their gravest hurt.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]I am well aware how terrible a crime I am about to commit, but my passion is master of my reason, passion that causes the greatest suffering in the world.
[tr. Davie (1996)]I know only too well how horrible the crime I am about to commit is. Logic makes it clear for me but anger, the only cause of man’s most terrible suffering, anger, conquers my logic.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]I understand what evil I am about to do
but my wrath is stronger even than my thoughts,
which is the cause of the greatest wrongs of humankind.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]I understand too well the dreadful act
I’m going to commit, but my judgment
cannot check my anger, and that incites
the greatest evils human beings do.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]I know well what evil I intend to do,
but anger overbears my calculation,
anger, cause of the worst misery to man.
[ed. Yeroulanos (2016)]I know how great a crime I'm going to commit,
but anger has control over my plans
anger, which is the greatest cause of human pain.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]At last I understand the evils [kaka] that I will perform; but my thūmos, responsible [aitios] for the greatest troubles [kaka] for mortals, is stronger than my sober thoughts.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]And I know well what pain I am about to undergo, but my wrath overpowers my calculation, wrath that brings mortal men their gravest hurt.
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]
Quotations about:
intentions
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
CALVIN: Hobbes, do you think our morality is defined by our actions, or by what’s in our hearts?
HOBBES: I think our actions show what’s in our hearts.
CALVIN: (after consideration) I resent that!
If you have a radio, the next three months is a good time to have it get out of fix. All you will hear from now until the 4th of November will be: “We must get our government out of the hands of predatory wealth.” “The good people of this great country are burdened to death with taxes; now what I intend to do is ….”
What he intends to do is try and get elected. That’s all any of them intend to do.Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1924-08-03), “Weekly Article: Random Shots at the News of a Week” [No. 86]
(Source)
“For your own good” is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction.
Janet Frame (1924-2004) New Zealand author [pen name of Nene Janet Paterson Clutha]
Faces in the Water, ch. 4 (1961)
“They thought they were doing it for the best,” said Windle. “People often do. It’s amazing, the things that seem a good idea at the time.”
… a noble aim,
Faithfully kept, is as a noble deed,
In whose pure sight all virtue doth succeed.William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English poet
“Brave Schill! By Death Delivered, Take Thy Flight” (1809; pub. 1815)
(Source)
Sometimes misquoted "is a noble deed".
Forgive us immortals our sins of pride, child. We all age like cheese, growing strong and tasty but also covered in the mould of good intentions gone grey.
Gail Carriger (b. 1976) American archaeologist, author [pen name of Tofa Borregaard]
Imprudence (2016)
Every President wants to do right.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Quoted in George Christian, The President Steps Down, ch. 1, sec. 3 (1970).
(Source)
Christian, who was Johnson's press secretary, says this was a frequent comment by Johnson, who would then go on to defend previous Administrations, Democratic and Republican, from the worst accusations of their then-detractors.
Governments can err, presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted on different scales. Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1936-06-27), Acceptance, Renomination for President, Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia
(Source)
(Source (Audio), 10:40)
The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story and writes another, and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
The Little Minister, ch. 1 “The Love-Light” (1891)
(Source)
