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For who is so worthless or indolent as not to wish to know by what means and under what system of polity the Romans in less than fifty-three years have succeeded in subjecting the whole inhabited world to their sole government—a thing unique in history?

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More quotes by Polybius

All things are subject to decay and change.

There is no witness so dreadful, no accuser so terrible as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.

Those who know how to win are much more numerous than those who know how to make proper use of their victories.

In all human affairs, and especially in those that relate to war, ... leave always some room to fortune, and to accidents which cannot be foreseen.

The government will take the fairest of names, but the worst of realities—mob rule.

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