Livy
Livy
Titus Livius—known as Livy /ˈlɪvi/ in English—was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people – Ab Urbe Condita Libri– covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian dynasty, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionHistorian
time spring events
Events of great consequence often spring from trifling circumstances.
spring heart maturity
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.
spring abundance satiety
From abundance springs satiety.
arduous build large surrender
It is easy at any moment to surrender a large fortune; to build one up is a difficult and an arduous task.
men slower
Men are slower to recognize blessings than misfortunes.
neither remedies
We can endure neither our vices nor the remedies for them.
less men outset
They are more than men at the outset of their battles; at the end they are less than the women.
feelings crowds uncertain
Nothing is so uncertain or unpredictable as the feelings of a crowd.
sweet names
The name of freedom regained is sweet to hear.
crime rational
No crime can ever be defended on rational grounds.
flames envy soar
Envy, like flames, soars upwards.
evil known tolerable
The best known evil is the most tolerable.
opposites together connections
Toil and pleasure, in their natures opposite, are yet linked together in a kind of necessary connection.
successful
Temerity is not always successful.