Mencken, H. L. -- A Little Book in C Major, ch. 4, § 30 (1916)

Dave — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 15:57:13 +0000

A man of self-respect is one who still believes that nobody suspects him.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Little Book in C Major, ch. 4, § 30 (1916)
(Source)

Variants:

SELF-RESPECT. The secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.
A Book of Burlesques, "The Jazz Webster" (1924)

Self-Respect -- The secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.
Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)

Julius Caesar -- In Suetonius, Life of Caesar

Dave — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:39:13 +0000

My wife should be as much free from suspicion of a crime as she is from a crime itself.

[Meos tam suspicione quam crimine iudico carere oportere.]

Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) Roman general and statesman [Gaius Julius Caesar]
In Suetonius, Life of Caesar

Popularly, "Caesar’s wife must be above reproach" or "beyond reproach."

Caesar was called to be a witness against Clodius, who was charge with having defiled sacred rites and having an affair with Pompeia, Caesar's wife. Caesar said he had investigated and found out nothing to prove the Pompeia's fidelity. When asked why, then, he had divorced her, he gave this answer.

Alt. trans.: "I judge it necessary for my kin to be as free from suspicion as from the charge of wrongdoing."

Alt. trans.: "I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected." [in Plutarch, “Caesar,” Parallel Lives [tr. Dryden (1693)]].

WIST Quotations

Mencken, H. L. -- A Little Book in C Major, ch. 4, § 30 (1916)

Julius Caesar -- In Suetonius, Life of Caesar