Great Sayings
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Language: ENG ELL EPO JBO TLH LAT

I collect here some of the sayings, snippets, and aphorisms which I have found moving or particularly apt. These may tell you a little about me... if you pay close attention.

For pithier sayings, see my collection of .sigs.

• The same Christos Tourgoutis used to tell the story that, after the death of his father-in-law, a Greek from Artaki [Erdek], who died as a refugee in Macedonia, he received a letter from Turkey, saying: "We heard of your father-in-law's death. He was an honest man, and he worked as a faithful official in our village. For many years he worked hard to bring water here from the neighbouring mountain. He was then secretary of our council. When he was forced to leave in 1922, nothing had been realised. We have now managed to bring the water over. We are sending you with our letter a bottle of that water, for you to pour on his grave, as witness to the love and gratitude we hold to his memory."

  The Turkish people, too, have a noble soul.

  Merlier, O. 1974. O Teleutaios Ellhnismos ths Mikras Asias: Ekqesh tou ergou tou Kentrou Mikrasiatikwn Spoudwn (1930-1973) (The Last Greeks of Asia Minor: A Report on the work of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies (1930-1973). Athens: Kentron Mikrasiatikwn Spoudwn. p. 48. My translation.

• Many wise men have written on these matters, so too have the newspapers, both our own and the foreign papers that concern themselves with Greece. There was but one thing that moved me to write: that this country of ours is something we all hold together, the wise and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, civilians and soldiers and the very least of men: all of us who took part in the struggle, each one in his own quality, have to live here. So then, as we once all worked together, let us all together stand guard over her; and let there be no 'I' from the strong man or the weak. Do you know when a man should say 'I'? When he has fought alone, and either created or destroyed; then he may say 'I'. But when many people have fought and created, then let them say 'we'. We are in a time for 'we', not for 'I'. So for the future let us learn prudence, if we wish to create a land and to live all together.

  I have written the naked truth for all the Greeks to see, so that they may fight for their country and their faith, and for my children to see and say, 'This is our inheritance of struggle and sacrifice', if struggle and sacrifice they were. And may they grow into a sense of honour and work for the good of their country, their faith and their community. For that will be to their own good. But let them not brag of their father's deeds, or debauch their sense of honour, or spurn the law and mistake influence for ability.

  Makriyannis. 1966. The Memoirs of General Makriyannis. Ed. and tr. Lidderdale, H.A. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 222-223.