Livy Quotes

60 Sourced Quotes

They are more than men at the outset of their battles; at the end they are less than the women.

Livy
There is nothing man will not attempt when great enterprises hold out the promise of great rewards.

Livy
There is always more spirit in attack than in defense.

Livy
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.

Livy
Favor and honor sometimes fall more fitly on those who do not desire them.

Livy
It is easier to criticize than to correct our past errors.

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

Livy
Men are slower to recognise blessings than misfortunes.

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

Livy
Passions are generally roused from great conflict.

Livy
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.

Livy
I approach these questions unwillingly, as it wounds, but no cure can be effected without touching upon and handling them.

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

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

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

Livy
It is easy at any moment to surrender a large fortune; to build one up is a difficult and an arduous task.

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

Livy
No crime can ever be defended on rational grounds.

Livy
The old Romans all wished to have a king over them because they had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom.

Livy
A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself.

Livy
They lived under a just and moderate government, and they admitted that one bond of their fidelity was that their rulers were the better men.

Livy
Luck is of little moment to the great general, for it is under the control of his intellect and his judgment.

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

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

Livy
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.

Livy