Lindsey Davis: Trending quotes (page 2)

“Communicating wit is a lonely art. It demands an independent soul.”

“This was a solitary walk where the sun and the scents of wild flowers would act on a tortured mind like a soothing drug.”

“Justice never paid a poor man's bills.”

“In an ideal world I ought to have gone with him to observe their reactions, but in an ideal world heroes never get tired or depressed; what's more, heroes are paid more than me.”

“We are Romans. We despise thought.”

“Senator, don't let your judgement be warped by one heady moment.”

“Love and death are gritty subjects. Their appropriate handling by poets does not require myrtle petals and violets.”

“Never stop to breathe the pretty flower scents. The graves of the poor still stink.”

“In fact, making up a spiteful lie has become respectable. Today's "jesters" are outright public nuisances.”

“To be born with nothing was grim. But to be born with everything, then to lose it, was far more cruel.”

“Luck is a wonderful luxury. What could better prove that some are born under a star of good fortune than the career (and the large, comfortable home) of the Great King?”

“I would rather see Rome ruled by a man who once had to ask his accountant tricky questions before his steward could pay the butcher’s bill than by some mad limb like Nero, who was brought up believing himself the son and the grandson of gods, and who thought wearing the purple gave him free rein to indulge his personal vanities, execute real talent, bankrupt the Treasury, burn half of Rome – and bore the living daylights out of paying customers in theatres!”

“She called me a rat.’ ‘Oh yes, I gathered you two were very close!”

“A wise partner does not come between her man and his best friend.”

“Curiosity is a terrible inducement.”

“The world is full of people slandering their birthplaces, as if they really believe that small-town life is different elsewhere.”

“They were not beggars; well, not in the usual sense. They were Christians, who wanted not just my nephews' money but their souls.”

“Have any sheep been seen walking out of the Library with seagoing adventurers clinging to their wool?”

“Do you kill people?'
'Not regularly. It's too much trouble making my peace with the gods afterwards.”