One should always look to the end of everything, how it will finally come out. For the god has shown blessedness to many only to overturn them utterly in the end.
Interpretation
This quote warns us to consider the ultimate outcomes of our actions, as appearances can be deceiving.
Herodotus highlights the importance of reflecting on the final results of our endeavors. Many people might experience initial success or happiness, but this can be reversed, leading to despair or downfall. The quote serves as a reminder to remain vigilant and wise, understanding that the true nature of a situation may only be revealed over time.
In practice
During a motivational speech about perseverance, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of staying grounded.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
For me Christ was not to be bought for thirty pieces of silver but with my heart's blood. We buy not cheap in this market.
We often fancy that we suffer from ingratitude, while in reality we suffer from self-love.
Every successful revolution puts on in time the robes of the tyrant it has deposed.
A hundred suspicions don't make a proof.
What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.
But mostly they were lies I told; it wasn't my fault, I couldn't remember, because it was as though I'd been to one of those supernatural castles visited by characters in legends: once away, you do not remember, all that is left is the ghostly echo of haunting wonder.
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