Tao Te Ching

“History has this and this only for its own: if a man will start upon it, he must sacrifice to no God but Truth; he must neglect all else; his sole rule and unerring guide is this – to think not of those who are listening to him now, but of the yet unborn who shall seek his converse.”

— Lucian of Samosata 125 – 180 CE via Fowler
Monumental influence on western literature.