Philip II of Macedon Quotes

12 quotes from Philip II of Macedon — King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great..

Read the full Philip II of Macedon playbook →

“My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you.”
Ambition

“Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything unseemly.”
Honor

“Oh, how small a portion of earth will hold us when we are dead, who ambitiously seek after the whole world while we are living!”
Mortality

“There is no wall that is high enough to stop a horse with a cart filled with gold.”
Wealth

“He reveals the full repertoire of the king's tactics, including several polygamous diplomatic marriages, deceit, bribery, military force, and a knack for playing off enemies against one another.”
— Ian Worthington, Philip II of Macedonia (Yale University Press)

“If the question before us were a new one, men of Athens, I should have waited until most of the regular speakers had delivered their opinions. Since, however, it is our fortune to be still debating a point on which they have often spoken before, I can safely claim your indulgence if I am the first to rise and address you.”
— Demosthenes, First Philippic (351 BCE)

“Philip is not dead — he is only ill.”
— Demosthenes, as recorded by Plutarch

“If the question before us were a new one, men of Athens, I should have waited until most of the regular speakers had delivered their opinions. Since, however, it is our fortune to be still debating a point on which they have often spoken before, I can safely claim your indulgence if I am the first to rise and address you. For if in the past their advice had been sound, there would be no need for deliberation today.”
— Demosthenes, First Philippic (351 BCE)

“I perceive that you are calumniated by those who are jealous of you and are accustomed to throw their own cities into confusion, who regard the peace which is for the public advantage as a war against their own private interests.”
— Isocrates, Letter to Philip (346 BCE)

“Wandering about without resources, many of them clothed in sheepskins and pasturing small flocks in the mountains, defending them with difficulty against the Illyrians, Triballians, and neighboring Thracians.”
— Arrian of Nicomedia, on the Macedonians before Philip

“It is mine by the right of conquest in war.”
— Philip II, attributed (on his possession of Amphipolis)

“Here is the man who is preparing to cross from Europe into Asia, and he cannot even cross from one couch to another.”
— Alexander the Great, at Philip's wedding feast (as recorded by Plutarch)

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Person

Philip II of Macedon

King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great.

Philip II of Macedon Quotes

12 quotes from Philip II of Macedon — King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great..

Read the full Philip II of Macedon playbook →

“My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you.”
Ambition

“Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything unseemly.”
Honor

“Oh, how small a portion of earth will hold us when we are dead, who ambitiously seek after the whole world while we are living!”
Mortality

“There is no wall that is high enough to stop a horse with a cart filled with gold.”
Wealth

“He reveals the full repertoire of the king's tactics, including several polygamous diplomatic marriages, deceit, bribery, military force, and a knack for playing off enemies against one another.”
— Ian Worthington, Philip II of Macedonia (Yale University Press)

“If the question before us were a new one, men of Athens, I should have waited until most of the regular speakers had delivered their opinions. Since, however, it is our fortune to be still debating a point on which they have often spoken before, I can safely claim your indulgence if I am the first to rise and address you.”
— Demosthenes, First Philippic (351 BCE)

“Philip is not dead — he is only ill.”
— Demosthenes, as recorded by Plutarch

“If the question before us were a new one, men of Athens, I should have waited until most of the regular speakers had delivered their opinions. Since, however, it is our fortune to be still debating a point on which they have often spoken before, I can safely claim your indulgence if I am the first to rise and address you. For if in the past their advice had been sound, there would be no need for deliberation today.”
— Demosthenes, First Philippic (351 BCE)

“I perceive that you are calumniated by those who are jealous of you and are accustomed to throw their own cities into confusion, who regard the peace which is for the public advantage as a war against their own private interests.”
— Isocrates, Letter to Philip (346 BCE)

“Wandering about without resources, many of them clothed in sheepskins and pasturing small flocks in the mountains, defending them with difficulty against the Illyrians, Triballians, and neighboring Thracians.”
— Arrian of Nicomedia, on the Macedonians before Philip

“It is mine by the right of conquest in war.”
— Philip II, attributed (on his possession of Amphipolis)

“Here is the man who is preparing to cross from Europe into Asia, and he cannot even cross from one couch to another.”
— Alexander the Great, at Philip's wedding feast (as recorded by Plutarch)

Continue exploring

Person

Philip II of Macedon

King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great.