Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Roman poet Lucan.
Last updated on December 18, 2024.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period, known in particular for his epic Pharsalia. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets.
Nobody ever chooses the already unfortunate as objects of his loyal friendship.
Might was the measure of right.
Among those who share a throne there can be no loyalty; Dominion's ever impatient consort.
Deep-seated are the wounds of civil brawls.
Great fear is concealed under daring.
Some men by ancestry are only the shadow of a mighty name.
The gods conceal from men the happiness of death, that they may endure life.
I have a wife, I have sons: all of them hostages given to fate.
The gods conceal from men the happiness of death, that they may endure life
All go free when multitudes offend.
To strictest justice many ills belong, And honesty is often in the wrong.
The prosperous man does not know whether he is loved.
The mere apprehension of a coming evil has put many into a situation of the utmost danger.
Poverty, the mother of manhood. Also, the mother of prostitution.
By boldness great fears are cancealed.
Neither side is guiltless if its adversary is appointed judge.
Believing nothing does whilst there remained anything else to be done.
The abode of God, too, is wherever is earth and sea and air, and sky and virtue. Why further do we seek the Gods of heaven? Whatever thou dost behold and whatever thou dost touch, that is Jupiter.
...Men fear what they themselves have imagined.
He is covered by the heavens who has no sepulchral urn.
A show of daring oft conceals great fear.
A crime which is the crime of many none avenge.
Learn on how little man may live, and how small a portion nature requires.
Every great man inevitable resents a partner in greatness.
No man is ever innocent when his opponent is the judge.
How blind men are to Heaven's gifts!
As far as the stars are from the earth, and as different as fire is from water, so much do self-interest and integrity differ.
Let him leave the imperial court, who wishes to be virtuous. Virtue and absolute power cannot coexist.
Deny a strong man his due, and he will take all he can get.
As far as the earth is from the stars, and fire from the sea, so is the useful from the right. Power over men perishes completely if justice begins to be observed, and respect for individual rights overcomes strongholds.
Not a stone but has its history.
As great edifices collapse of their own weight, so Heaven sets a similar limit to the growth of prosperous states.
Delay is ever fatal to those who are prepared.
Why seek the Deity further? Whatever we see is God, and wherever we go.
Make us enemies of every people on earth, but save us from civil war.
The remaining liberty of the world was to be destroyed in the place where it stood.
Poverty fled, she who gives birth to virile men.
An idle life always produces varied inclinations.
Thus each person by his fears gives wings to rumor, and, without any real source of apprehension, men fear what they themselves have imagined.