Agesilaus was "The greatest and most illustrious of the Greeks in our time;" according to Xenophon.

Under King Agesilaus, in the 4th century BC Sparta grew to its greatest power and influence, as Plato looked on.

He inspired Alexander the Great's Persian Conquests

Here are some of his most famous his words:

1) Someone once asked the Spartan King how how he had fostered his great repute.

Agesilaus replied, "By showing contempt for death."

2) He believed you should "Associate with all sorts of men. But be familiar only with the good."

--> Find a balance: live harmoniously with all walks of life, but discern and befriend the right people.

3) "Virtue is not a task to be endured, but a comfort to be enjoyed."

Xenophon the philosopher, said of King Agesilaus, "Praise gave him more pleasure than money."

-> Your character is your most valuable asset. Building it can be pleasurable.

4) When his sons were young, Agesilaus once "bestrode a stick, and was playing horse with them in the house."

(=playing Horsey)

A young Spartan soldier showed up unexpectedly, saw, and was embarrassed.

Agesilaus said to him, "Tell nobody, until you have children of your own."

5) Someone wanted to know why Sparta had no walls.

Agesilaus pointed to the citizens in full armor.

"These are the Spartans' walls."

The Spartans thought excessive security technology makes a city's men soft, and therefore vulnerable to demagoguery.

6) "Alas for Greece, which by her own hand destroyed so many brave men! Had they lived, they could have conquered in battle all the Barbarians in the world."

Agesilaus was the first to to unite the Greeks to challenge Persia on land.

A key precedent for Philip II and Alexander.

7) Agesilaus of Sparta on money:

"Do not simply act with justice, but generosity, too:

The just man is content to leave other people's money alone,

The generous man spends his own in the service of others."

-> Wealth is only a tool to serve a higher good

8) King Agesilaus on religion:

"The gods have pleasure in righteous deeds no less than in holy temples."

Religion is a guide to an international, universal set of moral standards.

It is a guide to what lasts, and outlasts.

-> Respecting it will secure your legacy, too