Here are 30 Quotes from Julius Caesar That Define Greatness, along with their sources and approximate dates:
- “I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Report to the Roman Senate, 47 BCE
- “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” – Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Act II, Scene ii, 1599 (play published)
- “Experience is the teacher of all things.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.” – Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, 1st century CE (book published)
- “What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st Century BCE
- “I am not king, but Caesar.” – Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, 1st century CE (book published)
- “Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.” – Personal Writings and Speeches, 1st century BCE
- “Arms and laws do not flourish together.” – Personal Writings and Speeches, 1st century BCE
- “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” – Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Act III, Scene ii, 1599 (play published)
- “Without training, they lacked knowledge. Without knowledge, they lacked confidence. Without confidence, they lacked victory.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “In the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “Divide and conquer.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “The difference between a republic and an empire is the loyalty of one’s army.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “I came to Rome when it was a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.” – Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, 1st century CE (book published)
- “The die is cast.” – Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, 1st century CE (book published)
- “The greatest enemy will hide in the last place you would ever look.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “The things that we want we willingly believe, and the things that we think we expect everyone else to think.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “When the swords flash, let no idea of love, piety, or even the face of your fathers move you.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “I am constant as the northern star, of whose true fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament.” – Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Act III, Scene I, 1599 (play published)
- “It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.” – Suetonius’s “The Twelve Caesars”, 121 CE (book published)
- “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” – Personal writings and speeches, 1st century BCE
- “I love treason but hate a traitor.” – Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, 1st century CE (book published)