Livy Quotes

Numa turned his attention to domestic matters. The removal of all danger from without would induce his subjects to luxuriate in idleness, as they would be no longer restrained by the fear of an enemy or by military discipline. To prevent this, he strove to inculcate in their minds the fear of the gods, regarding this as the most powerful influence which could act upon an uncivilised and, in those ages, a barbarous people. ~ Livy

Geological facts being of an historical nature, all attempts to deduce a complete knowledge of them merely from their still, subsisting consequences, to the exclusion of unexceptionable testimony, must be deemed as absurd as that of deducing the history of ancient Rome solely from the medals or other monuments of antiquity it still exhibits, or the scattered ruins of its empire, to the exclusion of a Livy, a Sallust, or a Tacitus. ~ Richard Kirwan

There was no one else, Livy. No one else got what you got. Those were our moments, and ours alone. ~ Lucia Franco

All things will be clear and distinct to the man who does not hurry; haste is blind and improvident. ~ Livy

Before the troops left Rome, the consul Varro made a number of extremely arrogant speeches. The nobles, he complained, were directly responsible for the war on Italian soil, and it would continue to prey upon the country's vitals if there were any more commanders on the Fabian model. He himself, on the contrary, would bring it to an end on the day he first caught sight of the enemy. His colleague Paullus spoke only once before the army marched, and in words which though true were hardly popular. His only harsh criticism of Varro was to express his surprise about how any army commander, while still at Rome, in his civilian clothes, could possibly know what his task on the field of battle would be, before he had become acquainted either with his own troops or the enemy's or had any idea of the lie and nature of the country where he was to operate--or how he could prophesy exactly when a pitched battle would occur. As for himself, he refused to recommend any sort of policy prematurely; for policy was moulded by circumstance, not circumstance by policy. . . . [T]o strengthen [Paullus'] determination Fabius (we are told) spoke to him at his departure in the following words.

'If, Lucius Aemilius, you were like your colleague, or if--which I should much prefer--you had a colleague like yourself, anything I could now say would be superfluous. Two good consuls would serve the country well in virtue of their own sense of honour, without any words from me; and two bad consuls ~ Livy

Considering thus how much honor is awarded to antiquity, and how many times - letting pass infinite other examples - a fragment of an ancient statue has been bought at high price because someone wants to have it near oneself, to honor his house with it, and to be able to have it imitated by those who delight in that art, and how the latter then strive with all industry to represent it in all their works; and seeing, on the other hand, that the most virtuous works the histories show us, which have been done by ancient kingdoms and republics, by kings, captains, citizens, legislators, and others who have labored for their fatherland, are rather admired than imitated - indeed they are so much shunned by everyone in every least thing that no sign of that ancient virtue remains with us - I can do no other than marvel and grieve… From this it arises that the infinite number who read [the histories] take pleasure in hearing of the variety of accidents contained within them without thinking of imitating them, judging that imitation is not only difficult but impossible - as if heaven, sun, elements, men had varied in motion, order, and power from what they were in antiquity. Wishing, therefore, to turn men from this error, I have judged it necessary to write on all those books of Titus Livy... ~ Niccolo Machiavelli

From abundance springs satiety. ~ Livy

So what's going on?" Livy asked after spitting out a bit more blood.
"Got a job for you."
"Will I be whoring?"
"Not this time. I'm sorry."
"You know how I love to whore," Livy stated with that flat tone that freaked people out, because no one ever knew whether she was joking or not. ~ Shelly Laurenston

There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty. ~ Livy

Adversity reminds men of religion. ~ Livy

Efferfreshpainted livy, in beautific repose, upon the silence of the dead, from pharoph the nextfirst down to ramescheckles the last bust thing. The Vico road goes round and round to meet where terms begin. ~ James Joyce

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

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

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

The real power behind whatever success I have now was something I found within myself - something that's in all of us, I think, a little piece of God just waiting to be discovered. ~ Livy

False shame only is harmful. ~ Livy

Envy, like flames, soars upwards. ~ Livy

The art of reasoning becomes of first importance. In this line antiquity has left us the finest models for imitation; I should consider the speeches of Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus, as pre-eminent specimens of logic, taste, and that sententious brevity which, using not a word to spare, leaves not a moment for inattention to the hearer. Amplification is the vice of modern oratory. ~ Thomas Jefferson

In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest. ~ Livy

The Roman envoys replied that they would go where their own generals led them, not where bidden by their enemies. ~ Livy

If ever we should find ourselves disposed not to admire those writers or artists, Livy and Virgil for instance, Raphael or Michael Angelo, whom all the learned had admired, [we ought] not to follow our own fancies, but to study them until we know how and what we ought to admire; and if we cannot arrive at this combination of admiration with knowledge, rather to believe that we are dull, than that the rest of the world has been imposed on. ~ Edmund Burke

When Numa died, Rome by the twin disciplines of peace and war was as eminent for self-mastery as for military power. ~ Livy

Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion. ~ Livy

Nothing moves more quickly than scandal. ~ Livy

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

As a child, when I first heard the story of Creation, I'd closed my eyes and pictured the earth as a ball rolling off the palm of God and into dark space, then drifting around until it found its home in sunny orbit. Never perfect, but ever spinning, and holding on to her course, despite it all. ~ Ann Howard Creel

their morals, at first as slightly giving way, anon how they sunk more and more, then began to fall headlong, until he reaches the present times, when we can neither endure our vices, nor their remedies. ~ Livy

War is just to those to whom war is necessary. ~ Livy

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

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. ~ Livy

I am a Roman,' he said to the king; 'my name is Gaius Mucius. I came here to kill you - my enemy. I have as much courage to die as to kill. It is our Roman way to do and to suffer bravely. Nor am I alone in my resolve against your life; behind me is a long line of men eager for the same honor. Brace yourself, if you will, for the struggle - a struggle for your life from hour to hour, with an armed enemy always at your door. That is the war we declare against you: you need fear no action in the battlefield, army against army; it will be fought against you alone, by one of us at a time.'
Porsena in rage and alarm ordered the prisoner to be burnt alive unless he at once divulged the plot thus obscurely hinted at, whereupon Mucius, crying: 'See how cheap men hold their bodies when they care only for honor!' thrust his right hand into the fire which had been kindled for a sacrifice, and let it burn there as if he were unconscious of the pain. Porsena was so astonished by the young man's almost superhuman endurance that he leapt to his feet and ordered his guards to drag him from the altar. 'Go free,' he said; 'you have dared to be a worse enemy to yourself than to me. I should bless your courage, if it lay with my country to dispose of it. But, as that cannot be, I, as an honorable enemy, grant you pardon, life, and liberty.'
'Since you respect courage,' Mucius replied, as if he were thanking him for his generosity, 'I will tell you in gratitude what you could not force ~ Livy

The first grown-up book that I read on my own was a nineteenth-century edition of 'Tales from Livy' that I'd found in my grandfather's library. ~ Gore Vidal

The best known evil is the most tolerable. ~ Livy

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. ~ Livy

Certain peace is better and safer than anticipated victory. ~ Livy

What was needed, was not merely a resolute man, but a man who was also free from the net of legal controls. Such being the circumstances, Quinctius declared that he would nominate Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus as Dictator, convinced that in him were courage and resolution equal to the majestic authority of that office. The proposal was unanimously approved, but Cincinnatus, hesitating to accept the burden of responsibility, asked what the Senate was thinking of to wish to expose an old man like him to what must prove the sternest of struggles; but hesitation was in vain, for when from every corner of the House came the cry that in that aged heart lay more wisdom - yes, and courage too - than in all the rest put together, and when praises, well deserved, were heaped upon him and the consul refused to budge an inch from his purpose, Cincinnatus gave way and, with a prayer to God to save his old age from bringing loss or dishonor upon his country in her trouble, was named Dictator by the consul. ~ Livy

Resistance to criminal rashness comes better late than never. ~ Livy

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

True moderation in the defence of political liberties is indeed a difficult thing: pretending to want fair shares for all, every man raises himself by depressing his neighbour; our anxiety to avoid oppression leads us to practice it ourselves; the injustice we repel, we visit in turn upon others, as if there were no choice except either to do it or to suffer it. ~ Livy

Men are only clever at shifting blame from their own shoulders to those of others. ~ Livy

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

Livy: Don't you ever wonder what else is out there…beyond the farm?

Ray: Sometimes

Livy: Aren't you curious how other people lived?

Ray: I enjoyed the drive, but i like coming back to my place. Sleeping on my land.

Livy: Your land. Ha! Seems every war in human history is about owning a land. I liked the Indian view that we're just temporary guardians of the land where we lived.

Ray: It's not temporary to me.

Livy: But your family just owned this land for less than a hundred years. In a span of a history that's nothing.

Ray: In a span of a life…that's near everything. ~ Ann Howard Creel

The story is that while a child named Servius Tullius lay sleeping, his head burst into flames in the sight of many. The general outcry which so great a miracle called forth brought the king and queen to the place. One of the servants fetched water to quench the fire, but was checked by the queen, who stilled the uproar and commanded that the boy should not be disturbed until he awoke of himself. Soon afterwards sleep left him, and with it disappeared the flames. Then, talking her husband aside, Tanaquil Said: 'Do you see this child whom we are bringing up in so humble a fashion? Be assured he will one day be a lamp to our dubious fortunes, and a protector to the royal house in the day of its distress. Let us therefore rear with all solicitude one who will lend high renowen to the state and to our family.' It is said that from that moment the boy began to be looked upon as a son, and to be trained in the studies by which men are inspired to bear themselves greatly. ~ Livy

For if I should not believe all that is written by Historians, of the glorious acts of Alexander, or Caesar; I do not think the Ghost of Alexander, or Caesar, had any just cause to be offended; or any body else, but the Historian. If Livy say the Gods made once a Cow speak, and we believe it not; we distrust not God therein, but Livy. So that it is evident, that whatsoever we believe, upon no other reason, then what is drawn from authority of men only, and their writings; whether they be sent from God or not, is Faith in men only. ~ Thomas Hobbes

Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness. ~ Livy

There is an old saying which, from its truth, has become proverbial, that friendships should be immortal, enmities mortal. ~ Livy

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

Wit is the flower of the imagination. ~ Livy

[1.9]The Roman State had now become so strong that it was a match for any of its neighbours in war, but its greatness threatened to last for only one generation, since through the absence of women there was no hope of offspring, and there was no right of intermarriage with their neighbours. ~ Livy

Friends should be judged by their acts, not their words. ~ Livy

History presents the pleasantest features of poetry and fiction,
the majesty of the epic, the moving accidents of the drama, the surprises and moral of the romance. Wallace is a ruder Hector; Robinson Crusoe is not stranger that Croesus; the Knights of Ashby never burnish the page of Scott with richer lights of lance and armor than the Carthaginians, winding down the Alps, cast upon Livy. ~ Robert Aris Willmott

Dignity is a matter which concerns only mankind. ~ Livy

When the Albans had left their city the Romans levelled to the ground all the public and private edifices in every direction, and a single hour gave over to destruction and ruin the work of those four centuries during which Alba had stood. The temples of the gods, however, were spared, in accordance with the king's proclamation. ~ Livy

Livy." His voice deepened to nearly guttural. Desire unfurled in her abdomen. Then reality slammed her in the face.
"Are you glamoring me?" she asked, anger rippling along her skin.
His eyebrows drew down. "Glamoring?"
"Yeah. What vampires do." She put her hands on her hips. "Making me want you."
He chuckled again. "Oh, you want me, and it's all you. There's no such thing as glamoring."
Truth. She opened her senses, and he was definitely telling the truth. "Oh. ~ Rebecca Zanetti

Now Brutus had deliberately assumed a mask to hide his true character. When he learned of the murder by Tarquin of the Roman aristocrats, one of the victims being his own brother, he had come to the conclusion that the only way of saving himself was to appear in the king's eyes as a person of no account. If there were nothing in his character for Tarquin to fear, and nothing in his fortune to covet, then the sheer contempt in which he was held would be a better protection than his own rights could ever be. Accordingly he pretended to be a half-wit and made no protest at the seizure by Tarquin of everything he possessed. He even submitted to being known publicly as the 'Dullard' (which is what his name signifies), that under cover of that opprobrious title the great spirit which gave Rome her freedom might be able to bide its time. On this occasion he was taken by Arruns and Titus to Delphi less as a companion than as a butt for their amusement; and he is said to have carried with him, as his gift to Apollo, a rod of gold inserted into a hollow stick of cornel-wood - symbolic, it may be, of his own character.
The three young men reached Delphi, and carried out the king's instructions. That done, Titus and Arruns found themselves unable to resist putting a further question to the oracle. Which of them, they asked, would be the next king of Rome? From the depths of the cavern came the mysterious answer: 'He who shall be the first to kiss his mother shall hold in Rome su ~ Livy

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

Truth is often eclipsed but never extinguished. ~ Livy

[Rhodian delegation:]
Every city contains wicked citizens from time to time and an ignorant populace all the time. ~ Livy

There is nothing that is more often clothed in an attractive garb than a false creed. ~ Livy

No law is quite appropriate for all. ~ Livy

The troubles which have come upon us always seem more serious than those which are only threatening. ~ Livy

Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason. ~ Livy

Believing, as they now did, that the heavenly powers took part in human affairs, they became so much absorbed in the cultivation of religion and so deeply imbued with the sense of their religious duties, that the sanctity of an oath had more power to control their lives than the fear of punishment for lawbreaking. ~ Livy

The special and salutary benefit of the study of history is to behold evidence of every sort of behavior set forth as on a splendid memorial; from it you may select for yourself and for your country what to emulate, from it what to avoid, whether basely begun or basely concluded. ~ Livy

Men are slower to recognise blessings than misfortunes. ~ Livy

No law can possibly meet the convenience of every one: we must be satisfied if it be beneficial on the whole and to the majority. ~ Livy

Men are seldom blessed with good fortune and good sense at the same time. ~ Livy

The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things rotten through and through, to avoid. ~ Livy

The most superficial fact regarding the Discourses , the fact that the number of its chapters equals the number of books of Livy 's History , compelled us to start a chain of tentative reasoning which brings us suddenly face to face with the only New Testament quotation that ever appears in Machiavelli 's two books and with an enormous blasphemy. ~ Leo Strauss

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

Fortune blinds men when she does not wish them to withstand the violence of her onslaughts. ~ Livy

He will have true glory who despises it. ~ Livy

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

It is your duty,' he said, 'to recover your country not by gold but by the sword. You will be fighting with all you love before your eyes: the temples of the gods, your wives and children, the soil of your native land scarred with the ravages of war, and everything which honor and truth call upon you to defend, or recover, or avenge. ~ Livy

Of late years wealth has made us greedy, and self-indulgence has brought us, through every kind of sensual excess, to be, if I may so put it, in love with death both individual and collective ~ Livy

In the past, I would've listed things such as common interests, mutual attraction, worldliness, and higher education. My freedom above all else. If I had found love, it would have had to be the kind that overwhelmed and overpowered all else.

I passed a hand between Ray and Me. "Once you told me that this," I said "is a beginning." I searched his face. "But how do you know, Ray? How do you know it's the beginning of something good?"

"I know." His breath was warm on my face as he moved in closer." Because someday, you're bound to forgive yourself. ~ Ann Howard Creel

No law is sufficiently convenient to all. ~ Livy

Rome would never have need of a dictator if she had such men in office, men so united in heart, as ready to obey as to command, and contributing glory to the common stock rather than drawing from it in their personal interests. ~ Livy

A person under the firm persuasion that he can command resources virtually has them. ~ Livy

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

Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war. ~ Livy

Bethink yourself not whence you sprang, but who you are. ~ Livy

I want to surrender myself to you completely, Livy. I want to be yours. You are my perfect. ~ Jodi Ellen Malpas

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. ~ Livy

In grave difficulties, and with little hope, the boldest measures are the safest. Livy Never make a defense or apology before you be accused. ~ Charles I Of England

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. ~ Livy

Men are slower to recognize blessings than misfortunes. ~ Livy

Many difficulties which nature throws in our way, may be smoothed away by the exercise of intelligence. ~ Livy

Toil and pleasure, dissimilar in nature, are nevertheless united by a certain natural bond. ~ Livy

Livy hadn't anticipated meeting anyone and wasn't ready to explain why the last few years
of her life had worn her so much, leaving her searching for home. Surely, Jack didn't care to hear a sob story from a perfect stranger. Actually, Livy wasn't sure she believed that. Something whispered inside her soul that Jack was just the person she needed to tell. ~ Teresa Tysinger

Men of outstanding ability are more likely to lack the power of controlling their own people than of defeating an enemy in battle. ~ Livy

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

Haste is blind and improvident. ~ Livy

I don't care," Livy stated emphatically. "I don't care if our marriage is nullified. As for our children, they will be loved and they will be taught to laugh at society's rules when they don't suit them. They will have your strength of conviction, Jack, and your mother's strength of purpose. We will all honor her. She was a remarkable woman. I wish I'd had an opportunity to know her. She gave me something very precious. "I love you, Jack Dodger. I love you with all my heart and soul. If I must live with you without benefit of marriage, so be it. I shall do it with no regrets and with an amazing amount of pride that you've chosen me to stand at your side. And when I go to hell, I shall gladly dance with you. ~ Lorraine Heath

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

He is truly a man who will not permit himself to be unduly elated when fortune's breeze is favorable, or cast down when it is adverse. ~ Livy

This above all makes history useful and desirable; it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions. ~ Livy

Fear looks always on the darker side... ~ Livy

Envy like fire always makes for the highest points. ~ Livy

The law proposed by Valerius forbade that anyone who had appealed should be scourged with rods or beheaded, but if the law was disregarded on either point it did no more than term it 'a wicked deed'. Such was the sense of shame amongst men at that time that this, I suppose, was thought to impose a legal sanction which would be sufficiently binding. Today hardly anyone would seriously utter such a threat. ~ Livy