
“For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.”
Parallel Lives, Caesar
On passing through a village in the Alps, as attributed in Parallel Lives, by Plutarch, as translated by John Langhorne and William Langhorne (1836), p. 499
Variant: First in a village rather than second in Rome.
“For my part, I had rather be the first man among these fellows than the second man in Rome.”
Parallel Lives, Caesar
Life of Alexander
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Quoted by Plutarch in Life of Alexander http://books.google.com/books?id=vWIOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22for+my+part+I+assure+you+I+had+rather+excel+others+in+the+knowledge+of+what+is+excellent+than+in+the+extent+of+my+power+and+dominion%22&pg=PA167#v=onepage from Plutarch's Lives as translated by John Dryden (1683)
“I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices.”
Source: Emile or On Education
“I had rather thought I was yesterday's man.”
When he was named a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in the Diplomatic and Overseas list of the Queen's honors.
Source: " It's Sir Mark Tully in UK honors list http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/12/31/tully.knighthood/," edition.cnn.com, CNN, December 31, 2001
“I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.”
Liza Minelli, as quoted in I Remember It Well (1975) by Vincente Minelli with Hector Arce, p. 395 https://books.google.com/books?id=D6jDtmiJCpkC&q=minelli+%22second-rate%22+%22first-rate+version%22&dq=minelli+%22second-rate%22+%22first-rate+version%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCoQ6AEwBGoVChMI0on3sqjdxgIVxHg-Ch1NhwVD; reprinted in "Judy and Liza, Part 3" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WuYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7188%2C5401411 by Vincente Minelli, in The Sydney Herald (August 15, 1975), p. 8
Context: I couldn't sing Mama's special songs. I couldn't do them as well. I would rather present a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of Mama.
As quoted in The Quotable Intellectual (2010) edited by P. Archer, p. 152 http://books.google.com/books?id=QnDvIsNKNIwC
“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.”
Source: Much Ado About Nothing
“I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm, than a man who knows everything.”
As quoted in Classic Wisdom for the Professional Life (2010) by Bryan Curtis, p. 75