“I assure you I had rather be the first man here than the second man in Rome.”
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.
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Julius Caesar18
Roman politician and general -100–-44 BCRelated quotes
Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Life of Alexander
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Alexander the Great (-356–-323 BC) King of Macedon
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.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) Genevan philosopher
Source: Emile or On Education
“I had rather thought I was yesterday's man.”
Mark Tully (1935) British journalist
When he was named a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in the Diplomatic and Overseas list of the Queen's honors. <br class="br">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 Minnelli (1946) American actress and singer
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 <br class="br">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.
Themistocles (-524–-459 BC) Athenian statesman
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.”
William Shakespeare book Much Ado About Nothing
Source: Much Ado About Nothing
“I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm, than a man who knows everything.”
John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) American business magnate and philanthropist
As quoted in Classic Wisdom for the Professional Life (2010) by Bryan Curtis, p. 75