Tite-Live citations

Page 2

“Favor and honor sometimes fall more fitly on those who do not desire them.”

“Luck is of little moment to the great general, for it is under the control of his intellect and his judgment.”

“No one wants to be excelled by his relatives.”

“Passions are generally roused from great conflict.”

“Are you going to offer yourselves here to the weapons of the enemy, undefended, unavenged? Why is it then you have arms? And why have you undertaken an offensive war? You who are ever turbulent in peace, and laggard in war. What hopes have you in standing here? Do you expect that some god will protect you and bear you hence? A way is to be made with the sword. Come you, who wish to behold your homes, your parents, your wives, and your children; follow me in the way in which you shall see me lead you on. It is not a wall or rampart that blocks your path, but armed men like yourselves. Their equals in courage, you are their superiors by force of necessity, which is the last and greatest weapon.”
Vos telis hostium estis indefensi, inulti? quid igitur arma habetis, aut quid ultro bellum intulistis, in otio tumultuosi, in bello segnes? quid hic stantibus spei est? an deum aliquem protecturum uos rapturumque hinc putatis? ferro via facienda est. hac qua me praegressum uideritis, agite, qui uisuri domos parentes coniuges liberos estis, ite mecum. non murus nec uallum sed armati armatis obstant. virtute pares, necessitate, quae ultimum ac maximum telum est, superiores estis'.

“Such is the nature of crowds: either they are humble and servile or arrogant and dominating. They are incapable of making moderate use of freedom, which is the middle course, or of keeping it.”

“Good fortune and a good disposition are rarely given to the same man.”

“The Aitolians, the Akarnanians, the Macedonians, men of the same speech, are united or disunited by trivial causes that arise from time to time; with aliens, with barbarians, all Greeks wage and will wage eternal war; for they are enemies by the will of nature, which is eternal, and not from reasons that change from day to day…”
Aetolos Acarnanas Macedonas, eiusdem linguae homines, leues ad tempus ortae causae diiungunt coniunguntque: cum alienigenis, cum barbaris aeternum omnibus Graecis bellum est eritque; natura enim, quae perpetua est, non mutabilibus in diem causis hostes sunt...

“He was always before men’s eyes; a course of action which, by increasing our familiarity with great men, diminishes our respect for them.”

“There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty.”

“It is easy at any moment to surrender a large fortune; to build one up is a difficult and an arduous task.”

“The old Romans all wished to have a king over them because they had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom.”

“From abundance springs satiety.”

“Envy like fire always makes for the highest points.”

“The most honorable, as well as the safest course, is to rely entirely upon valour.”

“We can endure neither our vices nor the remedies for them.”
Nec vitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus

“You know how to vanquish, Hannibal, but you do not know how to profit from victory.”

“They are more than men at the outset of their battles; at the end they are less than the women.”

“Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion.”

“No crime can ever be defended on rational grounds.”

“The state is suffering from two opposite vices, avarice and luxury; two plagues which, in the past, have been the ruin of every great empire.”

“No law is sufficiently convenient to all.”

“He would not anticipate those counsels which are rather bestowed by circumstances on men, than by men on circumstances.”

“Toil and pleasure, dissimilar in nature, are nevertheless united by a certain natural bond.”

“The troubles which have come upon us always seem more serious than those which are only threatening.”

“Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.”

“We do not learn this only from the event, which is the master of fools.”

“The name of freedom regained is sweet to hear.”

“There is always more spirit in attack than in defense.”