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No longer can I complain that the unrighteous man reaches the highest pinnacle of success. He is raised aloft that he may be hurled down in more headlong ruin.

Iam non ad culmina rerum
iniustos crevisse queror; tolluntur in altum
ut lapsu graviore ruant.

Original text (Latin)

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More quotes by Claudian

Nothing is more annoying than a low man raised to a high position.

Nothing can allay the rage of biting envy.

The people are fashioned according to the example of their kings; and edicts are of less power than the life of the ruler.

They are raised on high that they may be dashed to pieces with a greater fall.

That man is deceived who thinks it slavery to live under an excellent prince. Never does liberty appear in a more gracious form than under a pious king.

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Attribution

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