Livy quotes:
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A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself.
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Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness.
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The populace is like the sea motionless in itself, but stirred by every wind, even the lightest breeze.
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Men are only clever at shifting blame from their own shoulders to those of others.
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The old Romans all wished to have a king over them because they had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom.
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Under the influence of fear, which always leads men to take a pessimistic view of things, they magnified their enemies' resources, and minimized their own.
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Resistance to criminal rashness comes better late than never.
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Toil and pleasure, dissimilar in nature, are nevertheless united by a certain natural bond.
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Haste is blind and improvident.
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Events of great consequence often spring from trifling circumstances.
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You know how to vanquish, Hannibal, but you do not know how to profit from victory.
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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.
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Persevere in virtue and diligence.
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From abundance springs satiety.
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Treachery, though at first very cautious, in the end betrays itself.
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It is better that a guilty man should not be brought to trial than that he should be acquitted.
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There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty.
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There is always more spirit in attack than in defence.
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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.
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Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion.
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There is an old saying which, from its truth, has become proverbial, that friendships should be immortal, enmities mortal.
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Nature has ordained that the man who is pleading his own cause before a large audience, will be more readily listened to than he who has no object in view other than the public benefit.
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There is nothing man will not attempt when great enterprises hold out the promise of great rewards.
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No wickedness proceeds on any grounds of reason.
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Potius sero quam nunquam. Better late than never.
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We can endure neither our vices nor their cure.
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It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.
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Many difficulties which nature throws in our way, may be smoothed away by the exercise of intelligence.
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Under the influence of fear, which always leads men to take a pessimistic view of things, they magnified their enemies' resources, and minimized their own."
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It is easy at any moment to surrender a large fortune; to build one up is a difficult and an arduous task.
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They are more than men at the outset of their battles; at the end they are less than the women.
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Fortune blinds men when she does not wish them to withstand the violence of her onslaughts.
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In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest.
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Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war.
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There is nothing that is more often clothed in an attractive garb than a false creed.
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He will have true glory who despises it.
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This above all makes history useful and desirable; it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.
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All things will be clear and distinct to the man who does not hurry; haste is blind and improvident.
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We can endure neither our vices nor the remedies for them.
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...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.
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A gentleman is mindful no less of the freedom of others than of his own dignity.
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A person under the firm persuasion that he can command resources virtually has them.
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A woman's mind is affected by the meanest gifts.
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Adversity makes men remember God.
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Adversity reminds men of religion.
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An honor prudently declined often returns with increased luster.
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As soon as she (woman) begins to be ashamed of what she ought not, she will not be ashamed of what she ought.
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Avarice and luxury, those evils which have been the ruin of every great state.
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Bad beginnings, bad endings.
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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.
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By flying, men often rush into the midst of calamities.
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Certain peace is better and safer than anticipated victory.
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Dignity is a matter which concerns only mankind.
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Envy is blind, and is only clever in depreciating the virtues of others.
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Envy is blind, and she has no other quality than that of detracting from virtue
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Envy is blind. -Caeca invidia est
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Envy like fire always makes for the highest points.
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Envy, like fire, soars upward.
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Envy, like flames, soars upwards.
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False shame only is harmful.
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Fame opportunely despised often comes back redoubled.
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Favor and honor sometimes fall more fitly on those who do not desire them.
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Friends should be judged by their acts, not their words.
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Friendships ought to be immortal, hostilities mortal.
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Good fortune and a good disposition are rarely given to the same man.
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Great contests generally excite great animosities.
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Greater is our terror of the unknown.
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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.
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I have often heard that the outstanding man is he who thinks deeply about a problem, and the next is he who listens carefully to advice.
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In adversity assume the countenance of prosperity, and in prosperity moderate the temper and desires.
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It is easier to criticize than to correct our past errors.
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It is easy at any moment to resign the possession of a great fortune; to acquire it is difficult and arduous
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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.
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Luck is of little moment to the great general, for it is under the control of his intellect and his judgment.
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Luck rules every human endeavor, especially war.
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Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.
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Men are least safe from what success induces them not to fear.
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Men are seldom blessed with good fortune and good sense at the same time.
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Men are slower to recognize blessings than evils.
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Men's minds are too ready to excuse guilt in themselves.
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Necessity is the last and strongest weapon
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Never is work without reward, or reward without work.
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No crime can ever be defended on rational grounds.
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No law is quite appropriate for all.
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No law is sufficiently convenient to all.
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No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level.
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No one wants to be excelled by his relatives.
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Nothing hurts worse than the loss of money.
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Nothing moves more quickly than scandal.
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Nothing stings us so bitterly as the loss of money
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Once let good faith be abandoned, and all social existence would perish.
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Passions are generally roused from great conflict.
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Present sufferings seem far greater to men than those they merely dread.
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Prosperity engenders sloth.
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Such is the nature of crowds: either they are humble and servile or arrogant and dominating. They are incapable of making moderate use of freedom, which is the middle course, or of keeping it.
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Temerity is not always successful.
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That business does not prosper which you transact with the eyes of others.
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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.
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The best known evil is the most tolerable.
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The less there is of fear, the less there is of danger.
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The mind sins, not the body; if there is no intention, there is no blame.
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The most honorable, as well as the safest course, is to rely entirely upon valour.
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The name of freedom regained is sweet to hear.
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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.
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The result showed that fortune helps the brave.
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The sun has not yet set for all time.
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The troubles which have come upon us always seem more serious than those which are only threatening.
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The worst kind of shame is being ashamed of frugality or poverty.
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There are laws for peace as well as war.
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This was the Athenians' war against the King of Macedon, a war of words. Words are the only weapons the Athenians have left.
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Those ills are easiest to bear with which we are most familiar.
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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.
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Toil and pleasure, in their natures opposite, are yet linked together in a kind of necessary connection.
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Truth is often eclipsed but never extinguished.
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Truth, they say, is but too often in difficulties, but is never finally suppressed.
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Valor is the soldier's adornment.
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War is just to those to whom war is necessary.
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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.
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We survive on adversity and perish in ease and comfort.