Curtius Quotes & Sayings

He is a fool who looks at the fruit of lofty trees, but does not measure their height. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Nature has placed nothing so high that virtue can not reach it.
[Lat., Nihil tam alte natura constituit quo virtus non possit eniti.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Prosperity can change man's nature; and seldom is any one cautious enough to resist the effects of good fortune.
[Lat., Res secundae valent commutare naturam, et raro quisquam erga bona sua satis cautus est.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Long exercise, my friend, inures the mind; And what we once disliked we pleasing find. — Hesiod

A spark neglected has often raised a conflagration.
[Lat., Parva saepe scintilla contempta magnum excitavit incendium.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

The deepest rivers flow with the least sound. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Nothing is so secure in its position as not to be in danger from the attack even of the weak. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Fear makes men believe the worst. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Luckily, my job demands constant reading, otherwise I'd have to figure out some other excuse. — Maureen Corrigan

Let others consume their efforts in pointless trifles. Let others drain their energy in futile worries. — Quintus Curtius

A brave man's country is wherever he chooses his abode.
[Lat., Patria est ubicumque vir fortis sedem elegerit.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

He saw his enemies stealthily darting from rock to tree, and tree to bush, creeping through the brush, and slipping closer and closer every moment. On three sides were his hated foes and on the remaining side - the abyss. Without a moment's hesitation the intrepid Major spurred his horse at the precipice. Never shall I forget that thrilling moment. The three hundred savages were silent as they realized the Major's intention. Those in the fort watched with staring eyes. A few bounds and the noble steed reared high on his hind legs. Outlined by the clear blue sky the magnificent animal stood for one brief instant, his black mane flying in the wind, his head thrown up and his front hoofs pawing the air like Marcus Curtius' mailed steed of old, and then down with a crash, a cloud of dust, and the crackling of pine limbs. — Zane Grey

For my own part I am persuaded that everything advances by an unchangeable law through the eternal constitution and association of latent causes, which have been long before predestined. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Dictionaries, manuals, grammars, study guides and topic notes, classical authors and the entire book trade in de Viris, Quintus-Curtius, Sallust, and Livy peacefully crumbled to dust on the shelves of the old Hachette publishing house; but introductions to mathematics, textbooks on civil engineering, mechanics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, courses in commerce, finance, industrial arts- whatever concerned the market tendencies of the day - sold by the millions of copies. — Jules Verne

When fear has seized upon the mind, man fears that only which he first began to fear.
[Lat., Ubi intravit animos pavor, id solum metuunt, quod primum formidate coeperunt.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

The mob has no ruler more potent than superstition. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

My dear fellow " Said Albert, turning to Franz " here is an admirable adventure; we will fill our carriage with pistols, blunderbusses, and double-barreled shotguns. Luigi Vampa comes to take us, and we take him - we bring him back to Rome , and present him to him holiness the Pope, who asks how he can repay so great a service; Then we merely ask for a cariage and a pair of horses, and we will see the Carnival in the carriage , and doubtless the Roman people will crown us at the capitol , and proclaim us, like Curtius and the veiled Horatius, the preservers of there country."
Whilst Albert proposed this scheme, signor Pastrini's face assumed an expression impossible to describe. — Alexandre Dumas

Unless You Puke, Faint or Die, Keep Going! — Jillian Michaels

Suicide is not to fear death, but yet to be afraid of life. It is a brave act of valour to contemn death; but when life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valour to dare to live; and herein religion hath taught us a noble example, for all the valiant acts of Curtius, Scarvola, or Codrus, do not parallel or match that one of Job. — Thomas Browne

I just figured out what you are," he said.
"What?"
"You're a present." He nodded as if in satisfaction. "Tightly wrapped, with lots of tape, lots of beautiful shiny ribbon, all tied up in impossible knots. The kind of present that makes you half mad when you're trying to get it open. Because you know, the whole time, what's inside is going to be wonderful. — Sierra Donovan

Nothing is strong that may not be endangered even by the weak. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

When the truth cannot be clearly made out, what is false is increased through fear. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Despair is a great incentive to honorable death. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Habit is stronger than nature. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Doctors cure the more serious diseases with harsh remedies. Curtius Medici graviores morbos asperis remediis curant — Quintus Curtius Rufus

It is often a comfort in misfortune to know our own fate.
[Lat., Saepe calamitas solatium est nosse sortem suam.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

The fashions of human affairs are brief and changeable, and fortune never remains long indulgent.
[Lat., Breves et mutabiles vices rerum sunt, et fortuna nunquam simpliciter indulget.] — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Timid dogs more eagerly bark than bite. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

I want your mind. Your strength. I want to be worth your time. — Tahereh Mafi

Nothing can be lasting when reason does not rule. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Posterity pays for the sins of their fathers. — Quintus Curtius Rufus

Privilege always involves responsibility. — John Arthur Thomson

Necessity when threatening is more powerful than device of man. — Quintus Curtius Rufus