"Vos telis hostium estis indefensi, inulti? quid igitur arma habetis, aut quid ultro bellum intulistis, in otio tumultuosi, in bello segnes? quid hic stantibus spei est? an deum aliquem protecturum uos rapturumque hinc putatis? ferro via facienda est. hac qua me praegressum uideritis, agite, qui uisuri domos parentes coniuges liberos estis, ite mecum. non murus nec uallum sed armati armatis obstant. virtute pares, necessitate, quae ultimum ac maximum telum est, superiores estis'."

"Potius sero quam nunquam."

"Nature has ordained that the man who is pleading his own cause before a large audience, will be more readily listened to than he who has no object in view other than the public benefit."

"Passions are generally roused from great conflict."

"The troubles which have come upon us always seem more serious than those which are only threatening."

"From abundance springs satiety."

"Fame opportunely despised often comes back redoubled."

"Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion."

"Law is a thing which is insensible, and inexorable, more beneficial and more profitious to the weak than to the strong; it admits of no mitigation nor pardon, once you have overstepped its limits."

"Before anything else [Numa] decided that he must instill in his subjects the fear of the gods, this being the most effective measure with an ignorant, and at that time uncultured, people."

"The old Romans all wished to have a king over them because they had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom."

"Vulgatior fama est ludibrio fratris Remum novos transiluisse muros; inde ab irato Romulo, cum verbis quoque increpitans adiecisset 'sic deinde, quicumque alius transiliet moenia mea', interfectum."

"This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions."

"Nec vitia nostra nec remedia pati possumus"

"I shall find antiquity a rewarding study, if only because, while I am absorbed in it, I shall be able to turn my eyes from the troubles which for so long have tormented the modern world."

"Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness."

"Aetolos Acarnanas Macedonas, eiusdem linguae homines, leues ad tempus ortae causae diiungunt coniunguntque: cum alienigenis, cum barbaris aeternum omnibus Graecis bellum est eritque; natura enim, quae perpetua est, non mutabilibus in diem causis hostes sunt..."

"The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid. I hope my passion for Rome's past has not impaired my judgement, for I do honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer than ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds..."

"There has been no one since Livy who has made the trumpet utter its terrible sound in military operations."

"[I translated Livy to propose] the imitation of every true virtue of the Roman people."

"By semblance advertisements shall a noble heart be trained to delight in histories. And then, according to the counsel of Quintilian, it is best that he begin with Titus Livius, not only for his elegance of writing, which floweth in him like a fountain of sweet milk: but also forasmuch as by reading that author he may know how the most noble city of Rome, of a small and poor beginning, by prowess and virtue little and little came to the empire and dominion of all the world."

"He explained the organization (gli ordini) and described the methods of government of the Roman Republic better than anyone else."

"[Those who have specialised in the study of Livy] agree in this, that the purpose of that author in writing his History was to give the world an account of a republic which was very well ordered."

"The style must be always plain and open, yet sometime higher and lower, as matters do rise and fall: for if proper and natural words, in well-joined sentences, do lively express the matter, be it troublesome, quiet, angry, or pleasant, a man shall think not to be reading, but present in doing of the same. And herein Livy, of all other in any tongue, by mine opinion, carrieth away the praise."

"Is demum vir erit, cuius animum neque prosperae res flatu suo efferent nec adversae infringent"

"Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit"

"Est deus in nobis; agitante calescimus illo: impetus hic sacrae semina mentis habet."

"Di pia facta vident."

"Qui finem quaeris amoris, Cedit amor rebus; res age, tutus eris."

"Principiis obsta; sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas convaluere moras."

"Siquis amat quod amare iuvat, feliciter ardens Gaudeat, et vento naviget ille suo. At siquis male fert indignae regna puellae, Ne pereat, nostrae sentiat artis opem."

"Abeunt studia in mores."

"Exitus acta probat."

"Tarde quae credita laedunt credimus."

"To my fancy, the first poet of all antiquity."

"Here are only numbers ratified; but, for the elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy, caret. Ovidius Naso was the man: and why, indeed, Naso, but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy, the jerks of invention?"

"One often hears: that is good but it belongs to yesterday. But I say: yesterday has not yet been born. It has not yet really existed. I want Ovid, Pushkin, and Catullus to live once more, and I am not satisfied with the historical Ovid, Pushkin, and Catullus."

"The fittest for my wound, Who best the gentle passions knows to move; Ovid, the soft philosopher of love: His Love Epistles for my friends I chose; For there I found the kindred of my woes."

"Laeta fere laetus cecini, cano tristia tristis."

"Adde quod ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes emollit mores nec sinit esse feros."

"Nec facile invenias multis in milibus unum, virtutem pretium qui putet esse sui. ipse decor, recte facti si praemia desint, non movet, et gratis paenitet esse probum. nil nisi quod prodest carum est."

"Turpe quidem dictu, sed, si modo vera fatemur, vulgus amicitias utilitate probat."