Sunday, January 25, 2015
Wishful Thinking
Thucydides 4.108.4 (tr. Benjamin Jowett):
Newer› ‹Older
They judged rather by their own illusive wishes than by the safe rule of prudence. For such is the manner of men; what they like is always seen by them in the light of unreflecting hope, what they dislike they peremptorily set aside by an arbitrary conclusion.Caesar, Gallic War 3.18 (tr. T. Rice Holmes):
τὸ δὲ πλέον βουλήσει κρίνοντες ἀσαφεῖ ἢ προνοίᾳ ἀσφαλεῖ, εἰωθότες οἱ ἄνθρωποι οὗ μὲν ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἐλπίδι ἀπερισκέπτῳ διδόναι, ὃ δὲ μὴ προσίενται λογισμῷ αὐτοκράτορι διωθεῖσθαι.
In most cases men willingly believe what they wish.Caesar, Civil War 2.27 (tr. A.G. Peskett):
Fere libenter homines id, quod volunt, credunt.
For what we desire we gladly believe.Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1.7.3 (tr. P.A. Brunt)
Nam, quae volumus, et credimus libenter.
In ignorance of the facts, they conjectured (as often happens in such cases) what they most desired.
ὅπερ φιλεῖ ἐν τοῖς τοιοῖσδε, οὐ γιγνώσκοντες τὰ ὄντα τὰ μάλιστα καθ᾽ ἡδονήν σφισιν εἴκαζον.
