I became the murderer of many thousands of that fine race.
Part of a speech on his deathbed in 1087, referring to the Harrying of the North, written down by a monk named Ordericus Vitalis in 1123; as quoted in Empires and Citizens : The Roman Empire, Medieval Britain, African Empires (2003) by Ben Walsh, p. 60
“The state should look into this, as other nations do: see to it that nobles do not take the lives of their subjects at will, or burden them with unjust toil - as if they were dumb cattle!”
Source: William John Rose (1944). The Rise of Polish Democracy, p. 5
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Szymon Starowolski 1
Polish historian 1588–1656Related quotes
“His noble negligences teach
What others' toils despair to reach.”
Alma, Canto II, l. 7 (1718).
No printed sources exist for this prior to 2009, and this seems to have been an attribution which arose on the internet, as indicated by web searches and rationales provided at "Marcus Aurelius and source checking" at Three Shouts on a Hilltop (14 June 2011) http://threeshoutsonahilltop.blogspot.com/2011/06/marcus-aurelius-and-source-checking.html
This quote may be a paraphrase of Meditations, Book II:
Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.
But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil;
but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of Providence?
But Gods there are, undoubtedly, and they regard human affairs; and have put it wholly in our power, that we should not fall into what is truly evil
Misattributed
"Tucker's Revelation," in Revolution and Other Writings: A Political Reader, p. 249
“The English are a dumb people. They can do great acts, but not describe them.”
Bk. III, ch. 5.
1840s, Past and Present (1843)
Fiction, The Other Gods (1921)
Context: The other gods! The other gods! The gods of the outer hells that guard the feeble gods of earth!... Look away... Go back... Do not see! Do not see! The vengeance of the infinite abysses... That cursed, that damnable pit... Merciful gods of earth, I am falling into the sky!
Signs of Change (1888), Useful Work versus Useless Toil
Context: Worthy work carries with it the hope of pleasure in rest, the hope of the pleasure in our using what it makes, and the hope of pleasure in our daily creative skill.
All other work but this is worthless; it is slaves' work — mere toiling to live, that we may live to toil.