Constantine P. Cavafy Quotes

67 Sourced Quotes

But Argos can do without the sons of Atreus. Ancient houses are not eternal.

Constantine P. Cavafy
From my most unnoticed actions,
my most veiled writing —
from these alone will I be understood.

Constantine P. Cavafy
Pleasure will have much to teach him.
He will not be afraid of the destructive act; one half of the house must be pulled down.
This way he will grow virtuously into knowledge.

Constantine P. Cavafy
Of what's to come the wise perceive
things about to happen. Sometimes during moments of intense study
their hearing's troubled: the hidden sound
of things approaching reaches them,
and they listen reverently, while in the street outside
the people hear nothing whatsoever.

Constantine P. Cavafy
People of Kommagini, let the glory of Antiochos,
the noble king, be celebrated as it deserves.
He was a provident ruler of the country.
He was just, wise, courageous.
In addition he was that best of all things, Hellenic —
mankind has no quality more precious:
everything beyond that belongs to the gods.

Constantine P. Cavafy
One candle is enough. Its gentle light
will be more suitable, will be more gracious
when the Shades arrive, the Shades of Love.

Constantine P. Cavafy
One of the three will want me anyway.
And my conscience is quiet
about my not caring which one I choose:
the three of them are equally bad for Syria. But, a ruined man, it's not my fault.
I'm only trying, poor devil, to make ends meet.
The almighty gods ought to have taken the trouble
to create a fourth, a decent man.
I would gladly have gone along with him.

Constantine P. Cavafy
When setting out upon your way to Ithaca,
wish always that your course be long,
full of adventure, full of lore.

Constantine P. Cavafy
And from this marvellous pan-Hellenic expedition,
triumphant, brilliant in every way,
celebrated on all sides, glorified
incomparable, we emerged:
the great new Hellenic world.

Constantine P. Cavafy
He was a quiet, gentle man,
a man who loved peace
(his country had suffered much
from the wars of his predecessor),
he behaved graciously toward everyone,
humble and great alike.
Never high-handed, he always sought advice
in the kingdom's affairs
from serious, experienced people. Just why his nephew killed him
was never precisely explained.

Constantine P. Cavafy
If you are one of the truly elect,
be careful how you attain your eminence.

Constantine P. Cavafy
We for the best will strive. And always more
defective, more perplexing than before,
shall all things fare; until, as in a mist,
we stray bewildered. Then we shall desist.
For in that helpless hour the gods attend.
They always come, the gods. They will descend
from their machines, and straightway liberate
some and as suddenly exterminate
others; and having reformed us, they will go. —
And afterward, one will act so; and so
another; and in time the rest will do
as they needs must. And we shall start anew.

Constantine P. Cavafy
When they saw Patroklos dead
— so brave and strong, so young —
the horses of Achilles began to weep;
their immortal nature was upset deeply
by this work of death they had to look at.

Constantine P. Cavafy
Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today
wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?
Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,
rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?
Why are they carrying elegant canes
beautifully worked in silver and gold? Because the barbarians are coming today
and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

Constantine P. Cavafy
Try to keep them, poet,
those erotic visions of yours,
however few of them there are that can be stilled.
Put them, half-hidden, in your lines.

Constantine P. Cavafy
How much we'll tell down there, how much,
and how very different we'll appear.
What we protect here like sleepless guards,
wounds and secrets locked inside us,
protect with such great anxiety day after day,
we'll disclose freely and clearly down there.

Constantine P. Cavafy
What are we waiting for, gathered in the market-place?
The barbarians are to arrive today.

Constantine P. Cavafy