''I am Roman, alas, because Horace is Roman.''
''Master of the universe but not of myself, I am the only rebel against my absolute power.''
''Oh, how sweet it is to pity the fate of an enemy who can no longer threaten us!''
''It matters more how one gives than what one gives.''
''My reason, it's true, controls my feelings, but whatever its authority, it doesn't rule them so much as tyrannize them.''
''As for our gods, we have a few too many to be true.''
''To take revenge halfheartedly is to court disaster: Either condemn or crown your hatred.''
''We never taste a perfect joy; our happiest successes are mixed with sadness.''
''Ah, though a Roman, I am not less a man.''
''How sweet to die after one's enemies.''
''To die for one's country is such a worthy fate that all compete for so beautiful a death.''
''I would not like a king who could obey.''
''To he who avenges a father, nothing is impossible.''
''When obedience is so impious, revolt is a necessity.''
''Flee an enemy who knows your weakness.''
''I see, I know, I believe, I am undeceived.''
''Be it only for a day, it is still a glory without equal to be master of the world just that day.''
''They were more than kings, now they are less than slaves.''
''The Throne raises the majesty of kings above scorn and above laws.''
''Go, I hate you not.''
''How much must I overcome before I triumph?''
''Doubt, but still hate!''
''What? Rome dares not desire what you desire? How do you use your absolute power?''
''It is the gift of heaven and not of reason.''
''I am master of myself as of the universe, so I am; so I wish to be.''
''He who punishes the vanquished fears not the victor.''
''The king, just and prudent, wants only those things which he can get.''
''A monarch must sometimes rule even himself: he who wants everything must risk very little.''
''He who allows me to rule is in fact my master.''
''If you betray me, can I take a better revenge than to love the person you hate?''
''Such subjects are the very strength of kings, and are thus above the law.''
''As our self-interests differ, so do our feelings.''
''I don't know how to defend myself: surprised innocence cannot imagine being under suspicion.''
''One half of my life has put the other half in the grave.''
''Self-love is the source of all our other loves.''
''He who plays advisor is no longer ambassador.''
''The combat ended for want of combatants.''
''In recounting our woes, we often soothe them.''
''Rome, if you do not wish me to betray you, make enemies that I can hate!''
''It is a crime against the State to be powerful enough to commit one.''
''It is an imprudence common to kings to listen to too much advice and to err in their choice.''
''It takes good memory to keep up a lie.''
''Your virtue raises your glory above your crime.''
''As master of the universe, need he fear a master?''
''One is often guilty by being too just.''
''Your arm is unvanquished, but not invincible.''
''He who fears not death fears not a threat.''
''Oh! how many actions, how many fabulous exploits remain without glory in the midst of the night.''
''Ever more blood, ever more torments! My cruelty is exhausted and yet cannot stop; I want to be feared, but I only provoke.''
''He who pardons easily invites offense.''
''Have others fear you, and I will have no fear.''
''I can be forced to live without happiness, but I will never consent to live without honor.''
''The people you killed seem to be in excellent health.''
''The universe has no prince or king that it [Rome] would consider equal to its humblest citizen.''
''You haven't wasted all your time in Rome, since you know how to defend yourself so gallantly: you have wit, even if you haven't courage.''
''Its fury aims to shatter but our altars: it scorns only the gods and never the mortals.''
''The subject of a good tragedy must not be realistic.''
''After having won a scepter, few are so generous as to disdain the pleasures of ruling.''
''True, I am young, but for souls nobly born valor doesn't await the passing of years.''
''My sweetest hope is to lose hope.''
''In the service of Caesar, everything is legitimate.''
''... that darkling brightness which falls from the stars.''
''Rome is no longer in Rome, it is here where I am.''
''They who overcome their desires once can overcome them always.''
''I believe everything to be just when a king ordains it.''
''Ambition displeases when it has been sated ... having reached the peak, it aspires to descend.''
''Deceit is the game of petty spirits, and that is by nature a woman's quality.''
''He who can live in infamy is unworthy of life.''
''My generosity finally cedes to her hatred.''
''The fate of the State decides theirs: clauses of treaties determine their affections.''
''Guess if you can and choose if you dare.''
''I agree to, or rather aspire to, my doom.''
''The worst of all States is the democratic State.''
''Tortures are to them what joys are to us.''
''Reason and love are sworn enemies.''
''It is hard to hate what one has loved, and a half-extinguished fire is soon relit.''
''It is only blood that can wash away such an outrage; die or kill.''
''Rome alone can resist Rome.''
''As great as kings may be, they are what we are: they can err like other men.''
''Treachery is noble when aimed at tyranny.''
''A true king is neither husband nor father; he considers his throne and nothing else.''
''Each instant of life is a step toward death.''
''Desire increases when fulfillment is postponed.''
''How delicious is pleasure after torment!''
''The greater the effort, the greater the glory.''
''He who wearies of a king can weary of a father.''
''Death was to be my glory, but destiny has refused it.''
''He has served me too well; by increasing my power he has stolen it away: he is now my subject only so long as he pleases.''
''An example is often a deceptive mirror, and the order of destiny, so troubling to our thoughts, is not always found written in things past.''
''One doesn't wish to see those to whom one owes so much.''
''Clemency is the noblest trait which can reveal a true monarch to the world.''
''To vanquish without peril is to triumph without glory.''
