--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would be literally patrician in the…" description: "\"I would be literally patrician in the sense that the senators in ancient Rome were called conscript fathers, paters, from which comes the word patricia..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/gore-vidal-466_ancient_i-would-be-literally-patrician-in-the-se_1962816.jpg" --- # I would be literally patrician in the sense that the… ![“I would be literally patrician in the sense that the senators in ancient Rome were called conscript fathers, paters, from which comes the word patrician. So if you come from a senatorial family, you are literally patrician in that sense, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't be Billy Carter, you…” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/gore-vidal-466_ancient_i-would-be-literally-patrician-in-the-se_1962816.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/gore-vidal-466_ancient_i-would-be-literally-patrician-in-the-se_1962816.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d6/gore-vidal-466_ancient_i-would-be-literally-patrician-in-the-se_1962816.jpg) > “I would be literally patrician in the sense that the senators in ancient Rome were called conscript fathers, paters, from which comes the word patrician. So if you come from a senatorial family, you are literally patrician in that sense, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't be Billy Carter, you know, of recent memory.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker explains that “patrician” originally meant a descendant of Roman senators, but the term can be used metaphorically for any privileged background. **In simple terms:** Patrician originally meant Roman senator’s descendant, now used loosely for elite status. Key Takeaway Recognize the difference between literal and figurative usage. Themes history language social class Mood analytical thoughtful Type explanatory contextual When to use this quote - academic writing - political commentary - social analysis Key Concepts etymology class identity metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How does using “patrician” affect perception of class? - When is it appropriate to use historical terms metaphorically? A Different Perspective The term may be over‑applied, obscuring real socioeconomic differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient rome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-rome/) [Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carter/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Literally Patrician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literally-patrician-3249610/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Patrician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patrician-1084419/) [Patrician Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patrician-sense-3249612/) [Rome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rome/) [Senatorial Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senatorial-family-3249613/) [Senators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senators/) [Word Patrician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-patrician-3249611/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [One of the disadvantages of being a patrician is that occasionally you're obliged to act like one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-trumbo/one-of-the-disadvantages-of-being-a-patrician-is-that-occasionally/) [Dalton Trumbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-trumbo/) > [You had to hand it to the Patrician, he admitted grudgingly. If you didn't, he sent men to come and take it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-had-to-hand-it-to-the-patrician-he-admitted-grudgingly-if-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [PLEBEIAN, n. An ancient Roman who in the blood of his country stained nothing but his hands. Distinguished from the Patrician, who was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/plebeian-n-an-ancient-roman-who-in-the-blood-of-his-country-stained/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“He wondered what it was like in the Patrician’s mind. All cold and shiny, he thought, all blued steel and icicles and little wheels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/he-wondered-what-it-was-like-in-the-patrician-s-mind-all-cold-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [When I speak English, I've been told, I have this patrician way of speaking that's very irritating. It's the whole class thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-scott-thomas/when-i-speak-english-i-ve-been-told-i-have-this-patrician-way-of/) [Kristin Scott Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-scott-thomas/) > [And when the Patrician was unhappy, he became very democratic. 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But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. 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Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. 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