“So live, my boys, as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.”
Quocirca vivite fortes, fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus
Book II, Satire II, Line 135-136 (trans. E. C. Wickham)
Satires (c. 35 BC and 30 BC)
“So live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts”
The origin of this quote is often misattributed to Cicero; however, it is from Line 135-136 of Book 2, Satire 2 by Horace, "Quocirca vivite fortes, fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus." The English translation that most closely matches the one misrepresented as Cicero's is from a collection of Horace's prose written by E. C. Wickham, "So live, my boys, as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts."
Misattributed
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Do you have more details about the quote "So live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts" by Marcus Tullius Cicero?
Marcus Tullius Cicero180
Roman philosopher and statesman -106–-43 BCRelated quotes
“Fortune is given to brave men.”
Fortibus est fortuna viris data.
Ennius (-239–-169 BC) Roman writer
As quoted by Macrobius in Saturnalia, Book VI, Chapter I
“Fortune favours the brave.”
Fortis fortuna adiuvat.
Variant translation: Fortune assists the brave.
Act I, scene 4, line 25 (203).
Cf. Virgil, Aeneid, Book X, line 284: "Audentes fortuna iuvat."
Phormio
“Fortune favours the brave.”
Fortes Fortuna iuvat.
Pliny the Elder (23–79) Roman military commander and writer
Attributed by Pliny the Younger to his uncle during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in which the Elder died <br class="br">Quoted in [Pliny, translated by William Melmoth, Letters of Pliny, c.100 CE, eBook, 1927, Bibliobytes, Hoboken, NJ, English, ISBN 0585049971, LXV, to Tacitus http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2811/2811-h/2811-h.htm#link2H_4_0065, p. 48, Here he stopped to consider whether he should turn back again; to which the pilot advising him, "Fortune", said he, "favours the brave; steer to where Pomponianus is."] <br class="br">Commonly quoted as "Fortune favours the bold".
“Gold is good in its place; but living, brave, and patriotic men are better than gold.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
1860s, On Democratic Government (1864)
Context: But the election, along with its incidental and undesirable strife, has done good, too. It has demonstrated that a people's government can sustain a national election in the midst of a great civil war. Until now, it has not been known to the world that this was a possibility. It shows, also, how sound and strong we still are. It shows that even among the candidates of the same party, he who is most devoted to the Union and most opposed to treason can receive most of the people's votes. It shows, also, to the extent yet known, that we have more men now than we had when the war began. Gold is good in its place; but living, brave, and patriotic men are better than gold.
“The result showed that fortune helps the brave.”
Livy (-59–17 BC) Roman historian
Book VIII, sec. 29
History of Rome
“Brave men are brave from the very first.”
Pierre Corneille book Le Cid
Les hommes valeureux le sont du premier coup.
Chimène, act II, scene iii.
Le Cid (1636)
“They were brave and splendid, all the men. They died like brave men.”
Steve Turner (1949) British writer
Source: The Band That Played On (Thomas Nelson, 2011), p. 151
