Conspirata Quotes

“Surely the greatest mercy granted us by Providence is our ignorance of the future. Imagine if we knew the outcome of our hopes and plans, or could see the manner in which we are doomed to die - how ruined our lives would be! Instead we live on dumbly from day to day as happily as animals. But all things must come to dust eventually. No human being, no system, no age is impervious to this law; everything beneath the stars will perish; the hardest rock will be worn away. Nothing endures but words.”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“any rash fool can be a hero if he sets no value on his life, or hasn't the wit to appreciate danger. But to understand the risk, perhaps even to flinch at first, but then to summon the strength to face them down - that in my opinion is the most commendable form of valour”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“In the end, the only safe place to put a Trojan horse is outside your walls.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“It seemed to me at the time – and still does now, only even more so – an act of madness for a man to pursue power when he could be sitting in the sunshine and reading a book.”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“the wise man never assumes anything, never regrets anything, is never wrong, never changes his mind.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Problems do not queue up outside a statesman’s door, waiting to be solved in an orderly fashion, chapter by chapter, as the books would have us believe; instead they crowd in en masse, demanding attention.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“was yet another lesson to me in politics—an occupation which, if it is to be pursued successfully, demands the most extraordinary reserves of self-discipline, a quality that the naive often mistake for hypocrisy.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Well, well—be careful of what questions you ask, for fear of what answers you may receive.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“There are no lasting victories in politics, there is only the remorseless grinding forward of events.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“But it is one of the tricks of the successful politician to be able to hold many things in mind at once and to switch between them as the need arises;”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“...he possessed for attractive form of courage: bravery of a nervous man. After all, any rash fool can be a hero if he sets no value on his life or hasn't the wit to appreciate the danger. But to understand the risks, perhaps even to flinch at first, but then summon the strength to face them down--that is my opinion is the most commendable for of value...”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“It sounded legitimate when one put it that way – governing through the people: what could be fairer? – but really ‘the people’ were the mob,”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“Cicero used to say that the bigger a crowd the more stupid it is, and that a useful trick with an immense multitude is always to call on the supernatural.”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“Surely the gods, given their immortal powers, should be able to find more articulate means of communication than snowflakes. Why not send us a letter?”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“The fortunes of war, gentlemen,” he said, “can be cruel and capricious. But that is not the same as treason.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Maybe so, but in politics how things look is often more important than what they are.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Cicero’s first law of rhetoric, that a speech must always contain at least one surprise.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“a man of great ambition and boundless stupidity, two qualities which in politics often go together.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“there is in all men who achieve their life’s ambition only a narrow line between dignity and vanity, confidence and delusion, glory and self-destruction.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Surely the greatest mercy granted us by Providence is our ignorance of the future. Imagine if we knew the outcome of our hopes and plans, or could see the manner in which we are doomed to die—how ruined our lives would be! Instead we live on dumbly from day to day as happily as animals. But all things must come to dust eventually. No human being, no system, no age is impervious to this law; everything beneath the stars will perish; the hardest rock will be worn away. Nothing endures but words.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“He had learned well from Cicero the tricks of political campaigning: keep your speeches short, remember names, tell jokes, put on a show; above all, render an issue, however complex, into a story anyone can grasp.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Caesar is a different category of man altogether. Pompey merely wants to rule the world. Caesar longs to smash it to pieces and remake it in his own image.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“I fear there is in all men who achieve their life's ambition only a narrow line between dignity and vanity, confidence and delusion, glory and self-destruction”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“It seemed to me at the time - and still does now, only even more so - an act of madness for a man to pursue power when he could be sitting in the sunshine and reading a book”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Familiarity makes even the most fascinating figure dull: one would probably be bored with Jupiter Himself if one passed him on the street every day”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“How much longer, Catilina, will you try our patience”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum

“What are the only weapons I possess, Tiro?" he asked me, and then he answered his own question. "These." he said, gesturing at his books. "Words. Caesar and Pompey have their soldiers, Crassus his wealth, Clodius his bullies on the street. My only legions are my words. By language I rose, and by language I shall survive.”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“rising up starkly over the snowy plain, and that the plebs were flocking out”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“The guests filed out, the women turning toward the tablinum, the men moving into the study. Cicero told me to close the door. Immediately the pleasure drained from his face. “What’s all this about,”
― Robert Harris, Conspirata

“Well, good luck to you both. Rome will be the winner whoever is the victor'. Cicero began to move away but then checked himself, and a slight frown crossed his face. He returned to Catulus. 'One more thing, if I may? Who proposed this widening of the franchise?' 'Caesar' Although Latin is a language rich in subtlety and metaphor, I cannot command the words, either in that tongue or even in Greek, to describe Cicero's expression at that moment. 'Dear gods' he said in a tone of utter shock. 'Is it possible he means to stand himself?' 'Of course not. That would be ridiculous. He's far too young. He's thirty-six. He's not yet even been elected praetor' 'Yes, but even so, in my opinion, you would be well advised to reconvene your college as quickly as possible and go back to the existing method of selection.' 'That is impossible' 'Why?' 'The bill to change the franchise was laid before the people this morning' 'By whom?' 'Labienus' 'Ah!' Cicero clapped his hand to his forehead.”
― Robert Harris, Lustrum