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As ivy destroys the vital force of trees by creeping ’round them, so long passage of years is killing me. Like a tomb, I keep nothing but my name.

— Decimus Laberius

Ut hedera serpens vires arboreas necat,
ita me vetustas amplexu annorum enecat.
sepulcri similis nihil nisi nomen retineo.

Original text (Latin)

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More quotes by Decimus Laberius

He whom many fear must needs fear many.

From this moment on, citizens, we lose our freedom.

All men cannot come out first each time. When you’ve reached the highest step on fame’s ladder, you’ll find it hard to keep your footing and fall more quickly than you rise: I fell, and so will the one who follows: fame belongs to no one man.

No ambition, no largesse, no fear, no force, no man’s prestige could make me shift my stance when I was young: now that I’m old, do you see how easily I’m undone by the invitation—humble and mild—that issues from the merciful mind of the man who towers above us?

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