"the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must" meaning in English

See the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Etymology: Calque of Ancient Greek δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν (dunatà dè hoi proúkhontes prássousi kaì hoi astheneîs xunkhōroûsin) in Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War 5.89 (the Melian dialogue). Thucydides presents the sentence as part of an ultimatum from Athens to the city of Melos demanding tribute. The Melians having rejected the order, their city was taken by force and their population enslaved and massacred by the Athenians. The wording that has become standard is from Richard Crawley’s 1874 translation. Etymology templates: {{calque|en|grc|δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν}} Calque of Ancient Greek δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν (dunatà dè hoi proúkhontes prássousi kaì hoi astheneîs xunkhōroûsin) Head templates: {{head|en|proverb}} the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must
  1. (chiefly international relations) The weak cannot resist the decisions of the strong; power, not morality, decides the outcome of any dispute. Wikipedia link: History of the Peloponnesian War, Melian dialogue, Richard Crawley, Thucydides Categories (topical): International relations Synonyms: the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must Related terms: history is written by the victors, might makes right, vae victis
    Sense id: en-the_strong_do_what_they_can_and_the_weak_suffer_what_they_must-en-proverb-tCowN8ow Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Alternative forms

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          "ref": "1970, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Radhakrishnan: Selected Writings on Philosophy, Religion and Culture, →ISBN, page 48:",
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          "text": "The unilateral actions on the part of the United States, as in Iraq, threaten not so much the integrity of the Concert as the foundational norms of international society, such as sovereignty and non-intervention, which had provided the basis for that society in the first place. If this trend continues, we may end up with a hyper-realist world in which “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.",
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          "text": "The overall argument is that powerful states and wealthy capitalists use what power they have to gain even more power. They save the lucrative parts of the production process for themselves, and force weaker actors into the parts that yield relatively little reward. ¶ In this respect, economic structuralism fully agrees with the realist statement that “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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