Cleopatra Quotes

“History is not fathered, it is cultivated, ever-growing, ever-changing, and most importantly it is pruned and trimmed by those who uncover it from the shade.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“One for the past and the happy years well spent, one for the present and the patience we extend, one for the future and the love that never ends.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“It is a reminder that not all roads lead to Rome. Let it not be the center of your history, for propaganda is a tool favored by the West.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“That’s the thing with stories: you must always know the story of the storyteller.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“He drew out my name like the start of a poem.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“But women have ever been defined by their affiliation with men. It is hard to stand alone, to be scrutinised without the pollution of our sexual affairs.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“But if I were to lead Egypt, I had to do it my way. And I had to lead Egypt. For I loved her. You speak of my many lovers but few of you acknowledge my first, and perhaps my only true love. Egypt.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“I hoped to become a legend”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“We are not like the common man,’ Father had once said. ‘We may bleed and die like them, but when we bleed, so too does our land. And we never die, not truly. For there is always another Ptolemy to take our place.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“But where there is greatness, there is envy.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“Egypt,” I said simply. “She is me”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“Like the blue veins that flutter under the translucent skin of your wrist”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“Loyalty is a revered virtue of the dead”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“Accept, not respect. A nuance I only learned to distinguish later in my life.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“I leaned down to hear. “Will I be ugly?” she whispered. I pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Never. The scar will be a symbol of your fealty to me. And there is nothing more beautiful than loyalty. We are forever bound in skin and thread.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“We have spent too many years together to be shy in the face of curiosity.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“Though I had known this was coming, nothing prepares you for the loss of all the unclaimed moments yet to pass.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“I rested my forehead on hers and whispered, “One for the past and the happy years well spent, one for the present and the patience we extend, one for the future and the one that never ends.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“It was Velleius Paterculus who said Fulvia had “nothing of the woman in her except her sex.” For ambition is a manly pursuit, supposedly. Will we ever tire of men defining the parameters of womanhood?”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“nothing prepares you for the loss of all the unclaimed moments yet to pass.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“History is a disease. It masquerades as truth, but no one can replicate a moment in words alone.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“The love you have for Antonius is rare. If it has dimmed, I understand your choice. But if it still burns bright, do not be fearful to face the fire. It is better to be warmed by love, no matter how distant, than to stand alone.’ She turned away.”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra

“daily”
― Saara El-Arifi, Cleopatra