WIST Quotations

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 46 / sec. 99 (56-02 BC) [tr. Yonge (1891)]

Dave — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 19:26:03 +0000

In truth, in such a vast number of citizens, there is a great multitude of those men, who either, from fear of punishment, because they are conscious of their own misdeeds, are anxious for fresh changes and revolutions in the republic; or who, on account of some innate insanity of mind, feed upon the discords and seditions of the citizens; or else who, on account of the embarrassment of their estates and circumstances, had rather burn in one vast common conflagration, than in one which consumed only themselves.

[Etenim in tanto civium numero magna multitudo est eorum qui aut propter metum poenae, peccatorum suorum conscii, novos motus conversionesque rei publicae quaerant, aut qui propter insitum quendam animi furorem discordiis civium ac seditione pascantur, aut qui propter implicationem rei familiaris communi incendio malint quam suo deflagrare.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 46 / sec. 99 (56-02 BC) [tr. Yonge (1891)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

For in so great a number of citizens there is a great multitude of those who either seek after revolutions and changes of government, on account of their fear of punishment, being conscious of their misdeeds, or who from a certain innate frenzy of mind take delight in civil broils and seditions, or who, on account of pecuniary embarrassments, prefer rather to perish in one common conflagration than in one by themselves.
[tr. Hickie (1888)]

For, in so large a body of citizens, there are great numbers of men who, either from fear of punishment, being conscious of their crimes, seek to cause revolution and changes of government; or who, owing to a sort of inborn revolutionary madness, batten on civil discord and sedition; or who, on account of embarrassment in their finances, prefer a general conflagration to their own ruin.
[tr. Gardner (Loeb) (1958)]

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 3 / sec. 5 (3.3/3.5) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Grant (1960)]

Dave — Thu, 29 May 2025 16:13:51 +0000

That, Senators, is what a favour from gangsters amounts to. They refrain from murdering someone; then they boast that they have spared him!

[Quod est aliud, patres conscripti, beneficium latronum, nisi ut commemorare possint iis se dedisse vitam, quibus non ademerint?]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 3 / sec. 5 (3.3/3.5) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Grant (1960)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

What other services, my lords, can robbers render, save that they can claim to have given life to those whose lives they spare?
[tr. King (1877)]

How; are brigands "benefactors," except in being able to assert that they have granted life to those from whom they have not taken it?
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]

Us not this, O conscript fathers, such a kindness as is done by banditti, who are contented with being able to boast that they have granted their lives to all those men whose lives they have not taken?
[tr. Yonge (1903)]

How else can brigands confer a favour, conscript fathers, except by asserting that they have granted life to those from whom they have not taken it away?
[tr. Berry (2006)]

What is the kindness of outlaws, members of the Senate, other than their ability to remind us that they gave life to people from whom they did not steal it?
[tr. McElduff (2011)]

Debs, Eugene V. -- Statement to the Court (1918-09-18)

Dave — Fri, 25 May 2018 22:32:01 +0000

Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind then that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; and while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) American union leader, activist, socialist, politician
Statement to the Court (1918-09-18)
(Source)

On being convicted of sedition for urging resistance to the draft. Often paraphrased:

As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I am of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Butler, Samuel -- Prose Observations, “Sundry Thoughts”

Dave — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:58:09 +0000

There are more Fools than Knaves in the World,
Else the Knaves would not have enough to live upon.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Prose Observations, “Sundry Thoughts”
(Source)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Article (1860-08), “The Professor’s Story [Elsie Venner],” ch. 16 [The Professor], Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 34

Dave — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:45:01 +0000

Treat bad men exactly as if they were insane. They are in-sane, out of health, morally. Reason, which is food to sound minds, is not tolerated, still less assimilated, unless administered with the greatest caution; perhaps, not at all. Avoid collision with them, so far as you honorably can; keep your temper, if you can, — for one angry man is as good as another; restrain them from violence, promptly, completely, and with the least possible injury, just as in the case of maniacs, — and when you have got rid of them, or got them tied hand and foot so that they can do no mischief, sit down and contemplate them charitably, remembering that nine tenths of their perversity comes from outside influences, drunken ancestors, abuse in childhood, bad company, from which you have happily been preserved, and for some of which you, as a member of society, may be fractionally responsible.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1860-08), “The Professor’s Story [Elsie Venner],” ch. 16 [The Professor], Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 34
(Source)

Originally serialized as “The Professor’s Story,” but collected as the novel Elsie Venner, ch. 16 (1861).