--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A town, before it can be plundered and…" description: "\"A town, before it can be plundered and, deserted, must first be taken; and in this particular Venus has borrowed a law from her consort Mars. A woman t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/charles-caleb-colton-270_borrowed_a-town-before-it-can-be-plundered-and-de_2704293.jpg" --- # A town, before it can be plundered and, deserted, must… ![“A town, before it can be plundered and, deserted, must first be taken; and in this particular Venus has borrowed a law from her consort Mars. A woman that wishes to retain her suitor must keep him in the trenches; for this is a siege which the besieger never raises for want of supplies, since a…” quote by Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/charles-caleb-colton-270_borrowed_a-town-before-it-can-be-plundered-and-de_2704293.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/charles-caleb-colton-270_borrowed_a-town-before-it-can-be-plundered-and-de_2704293.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23e/charles-caleb-colton-270_borrowed_a-town-before-it-can-be-plundered-and-de_2704293.jpg) > “A town, before it can be plundered and, deserted, must first be taken; and in this particular Venus has borrowed a law from her consort Mars. A woman that wishes to retain her suitor must keep him in the trenches; for this is a siege which the besieger never raises for want of supplies, since a feast is more fatal to love than a fast, and a surfeit than a starvation. Inanition may cause it to die a slow death, but repletion always destroys it by a sudden one.” [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maintaining a relationship requires constant engagement; neglect leads to decay, while overindulgence can also ruin love. **In simple terms:** Love needs balanced attention; too little or too much harms it. Key Takeaway Seek steady, moderate effort in relationships. Themes relationships balance attention Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - married couples managing daily life - long‑distance partners staying connected - friends maintaining friendships - caregivers supporting patients Key Concepts commitment dynamics emotional economy sustaining love Questions to Reflect On - What balance works best for you? - How do you avoid both neglect and overindulgence? A Different Perspective Too much focus can become suffocating; neglect is equally damaging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Borrowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowed/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Courtship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtship/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Deserted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deserted/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mars/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Particular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particular/) [Raises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/raises/) [Repletion Destroys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repletion-destroys-2757636/) [Siege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/siege/) [Slow death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slow-death/) [Starvation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starvation/) [Starvation Inanition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starvation-inanition-2757635/) [Suitors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suitors/) [Supplies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supplies/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) [Trenches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trenches/) [Venus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venus/) [Venus Borrowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venus-borrowed-2757637/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [“I sometimes think I prefer suitors in books rather than right in front of me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ann-shaffer/i-sometimes-think-i-prefer-suitors-in-books-rather-than-right-in/) [Mary Ann Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ann-shaffer/) > [(The tree bend over. Suddenly, a hiss and a meow sounded an instant before two cats darted off across the backyard.) Look, Lanie, it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/the-tree-bend-over-suddenly-a-hiss-and-a-meow-sounded-an-instant/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [People like to define you through what they've seen you do. 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She walks out to them, an apparition in white and blue velvet, her head held high as they stare in awe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/felicity-ignores-us-she-walks-out-to-them-an-apparition-in-white-and/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [Death is a supple suitor, that wins at last. It is a stealthy wooing; conducted first by pallid innuendos and dim approach, but brave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/death-is-a-supple-suitor-that-wins-at-last-it-is-a-stealthy-wooing/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [If you were to do a line-up of past suitors, it's definitely a very eclectic group, is all I'll say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-myles/if-you-were-to-do-a-line-up-of-past-suitors-it-s-definitely-a-very/) [Sophia Myles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-myles/) > [IAGO: She that was ever fair and never proud, Had tongue at will and yet was never loud, Never lack'd gold and yet went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/iago-she-that-was-ever-fair-and-never-proud-had-tongue-at-will-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Opportunity cost is a huge filter in life. If you've got two suitors who are really eager to have you and one is way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/opportunity-cost-is-a-huge-filter-in-life-if-you-ve-got-two-suitors/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Cold prayers, like cold suitors, are seldom effective in their aims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/cold-prayers-like-cold-suitors-are-seldom-effective-in-their-aims/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [Rarity gives a charm; so early fruits and winter roses are the most prized; and coyness sets off an extravagant mistress, while the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/rarity-gives-a-charm-so-early-fruits-and-winter-roses-are-the-most/) [Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/) > [Love in modern times has been the tailor's best friend. Every suitor of the nineteenth century spends more than his spare cash on personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-augustus-henry-sala/love-in-modern-times-has-been-the-tailor-s-best-friend-every-suitor/) [George Augustus Henry Sala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-augustus-henry-sala/) > [Evil Dead" needs a very specific home. Movies are mostly unrated, but on television who the heck was doing that stuff? And now the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/evil-dead-needs-a-very-specific-home-movies-are-mostly-unrated-but-on/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Explore all 778 Charles Caleb Colton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More Borrowed quotes > [I love awards, especially if I get them. It's up to the courage of the filmmakers to make art in cinema, not just business.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-gazzara/i-love-awards-especially-if-i-get-them-it-s-up-to-the-courage-of-the/) [Ben Gazzara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-gazzara/) > [The creation of George Smiley, the retired spy recalled to hunt for just such a high-ranking mole in 'Tinker, Tailor,' was extremely personal. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/the-creation-of-george-smiley-the-retired-spy-recalled-to-hunt-for/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [I'm no innovator. If anything I'm a stealer, or borrower. I've stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-bryant/i-m-no-innovator-if-anything-i-m-a-stealer-or-borrower-i-ve-stolen-or/) [Bear Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-bryant/) > [Any sizeable Portuguese town looks like a superstitious bride's finery - something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/any-sizeable-portuguese-town-looks-like-a-superstitious-bride-s/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [“I came to this world with nothing, and I leave with nothing but love, everything else is just borrowed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-streets/i-came-to-this-world-with-nothing-and-i-leave-with-nothing-but-love/) [The Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-streets/) > [Investors, of course, can, by their own behavior make stock ownership highly risky. And many do. Active trading, attempts to "time" market movements, inadequate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/investors-of-course-can-by-their-own-behavior-make-stock-ownership/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [I'm so sick of mermaid dresses, trains, borrowed bling-bling, and a pose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-leon-talley/i-m-so-sick-of-mermaid-dresses-trains-borrowed-bling-bling-and-a-pose/) [Andre Leon Talley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-leon-talley/) > [There is a word Kristos in the Greek dictionary, and this word is supposed to be borrowed from the Sanskrit word "Krishna," and Christ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/there-is-a-word-kristos-in-the-greek-dictionary-and-this-word-is/) [A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/) > [In 1981, I borrowed 2,000 pounds - a lot of money back then - paid 50 quid for a seat, packed my own sandwich,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/in-1981-i-borrowed-2-000-pounds-a-lot-of-money-back-then-paid-50-quid/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [I think when Tom Ford was there I borrowed a Gucci tux one time, and they were very nice and he was very kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-leto/i-think-when-tom-ford-was-there-i-borrowed-a-gucci-tux-one-time-and/) [Jared Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-leto/) > [There is a big problem. The problem is the country borrowed too much. We went on a borrowing binge, there was a housing boom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/there-is-a-big-problem-the-problem-is-the-country-borrowed-too-much/) [George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/) > [I toyed with making portraits based on people's discarded shopping lists found on the street, or old diaries bought on eBay, or other forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-blackall/i-toyed-with-making-portraits-based-on-people-s-discarded-shopping/) [Sophie Blackall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-blackall/) > [There are instances where lines in my work are borrowed or stolen from sources, mainly from books, or they become my own versions. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-pettibon/there-are-instances-where-lines-in-my-work-are-borrowed-or-stolen/) [Raymond Pettibon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-pettibon/) > [True beauty lives on high. Ours is but a flame borrowed thence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/true-beauty-lives-on-high-ours-is-but-a-flame-borrowed-thence/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) [Browse all 343 Borrowed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A town, before it can be plundered and, deserted, must first be taken; and in this particular Venus has borrowed a law from her consort Mars. A woman that wishes to retain her suitor must keep him in the trenches; for this is a siege which the besieger never raises for want of supplies, since a feast is more fatal to love than a fast, and a surfeit than a starvation. 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