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If great renown is won by true merit, and if virtue is considered in itself and apart from success, then all that we praise in any of our ancestors was Fortune's gift.

Si veris magna paratur
fama bonis et si successu nuda remoto
inspicitur virtus, quidquid laudamus in ullo
maiorum, fortuna fuit.

Original text (Latin)

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You have taken from me the one privilege of civil war – the power of granting life to the defeated.

Men are ignorant that the purpose of the sword is to save every man from slavery.

I have a wife, I have sons; all these hostages have I given to fortune.

The sin of thousands always goes unpunished.

Has he any dwelling-place save earth and sea, the air of heaven and virtuous hearts? Why seek we further for deities? All that we see is God; every motion we make is God also.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Lucan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.