Top 124 Quotes & Sayings by Livy - Page 2

No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level.

Nothing hurts worse than the loss of money.

That business does not prosper which you transact with the eyes of others.

Wit is the flower of the imagination.

Events of great consequence often spring from trifling circumstances.

The less there is of fear, the less there is of danger.

When Tarquin the Proud was asked what was the best mode of governing a conquered city, he replied only by beating down with his staff all the tallest poppies in his garden.

It is easy at any moment to resign the possession of a great fortune; to acquire it is difficult and arduous

Greater is our terror of the unknown.

Necessity is the last and strongest weapon.

Nothing moves more quickly than scandal.

Passions are generally roused from great conflict.

No law is sufficiently convenient to all.

Friendships ought to be immortal, hostilities mortal.

Dignity is a matter which concerns only mankind.

Adversity reminds men of religion.

In adversity assume the countenance of prosperity, and in prosperity moderate the temper and desires.

No wickedness proceeds on any grounds of reason.

In war, mere appearances have had all the effect of realities; and that a person, under a firm persuasion that he can command resources, virtually has them; that very prospect inspiring him with hope and boldness in his exertions.

A gentleman is mindful no less of the freedom of others than of his own dignity.

The study of History is the best medicine for a sick mind.

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

Luck rules every human endeavor, especially war.

Bad beginnings, bad endings.

Envy is blind, and is only clever in depreciating the virtues of others.

This was the Athenians' war against the King of Macedon, a war of words. Words are the only weapons the Athenians have left.

Law is a thing which is insensible, and inexorable, more beneficial and more profitious to the weak than to the strong; it admits of no mitigation nor pardon, once you have overstepped its limits.

Valor is the soldier's adornment.

Nothing is so uncertain or unpredictable as the feelings of a crowd.

An honor prudently declined often returns with increased luster.

Treachery, though at first very cautious, in the end betrays itself.

Better and safer is an assured peace than a victory hoped for. The one is in your own power, the other is in the hands of the gods.

It is when fortune is the most propitious that she is least to be trusted.

The army from Asia introduced a foreign luxury to Rome; it was then the meals began to require more dishes and more expenditure . . . the cook, who had up to that time been employed as a slave of low price, become dear: what had been nothing but a metier was elevated to an art.

Great contests generally excite great animosities.

War is just to those to whom war is necessary.

Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.

Those ills are easiest to bear with which we are most familiar.

Men are least safe from what success induces them not to fear.

Envy is blind, and she has no other quality than that of detracting from virtue

We feel public misfortunes just so far as they affect our private circumstances, and nothing of this nature appeals more directly to us than the loss of money.

...war is just to those for whom it is necessary, and arms are clear of impiety for those who have no hope left but in arms.

As soon as she (woman) begins to be ashamed of what she ought not, she will not be ashamed of what she ought.

The name of freedom regained is sweet to hear.

Toil and pleasure, in their natures opposite, are yet linked together in a kind of necessary connection.

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

Present sufferings seem far greater to men than those they merely dread.

That sense – the only true patriotism – comes slowly and springs from the heart: it is founded upon respect for the family and love for the soil. Premature ‘liberty’ of this kind would have been a disaster: we should have been torn to pieces by petty squabbles before we had ever reached political maturity, which, as things were, as made possible by the long quiet years under monarchical government; for it was that government which, as it were, nursed our strength and enabled us ultimately to produce sound fruit from liberty, as only a politically adult nation can.

Thus, if there is anyone who is confident that he can advise me as to the best advantage of the state in this campaign which I am about to conduct, let him not refuse his services to the state, but come with me into Macedonia. I will furnish him with his sea-passage, with a horse, a tent, and even travel-funds. If anyone is reluctant to do this and prefers the leisure of the city to the hardships of campaigning, let him not steer the ship from on shore.

The best known evil is the most tolerable.

Once let good faith be abandoned, and all social existence would perish.

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

No law is quite appropriate for all.

The worst kind of shame is being ashamed of frugality or poverty.

Haste is blind and improvident.

Nothing stings us so bitterly as the loss of money

Fame opportunely despised often comes back redoubled.

A certain peace is better and safer than a victory in prospect; the former is at your own disposal, the latter depends upon the gods.

Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.

A woman's mind is affected by the meanest gifts.