--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a man is just and firm in his…" description: "\"When a man is just and firm in his purpose, The citizens burning to approve a wrong Or the frowning looks of a tyrant Do not shake his fixed mind, nor ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg" --- # When a man is just and firm in his purpose, The citizens… ![“When a man is just and firm in his purpose, The citizens burning to approve a wrong Or the frowning looks of a tyrant Do not shake his fixed mind, nor the Southwind. Wild lord of the uneasy Adriatic, Nor the thunder in the mighty hand of Jove: Should the heavens crack and tumble down, As the ruins…” quote by Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg) > “When a man is just and firm in his purpose, The citizens burning to approve a wrong Or the frowning looks of a tyrant Do not shake his fixed mind, nor the Southwind. Wild lord of the uneasy Adriatic, Nor the thunder in the mighty hand of Jove: Should the heavens crack and tumble down, As the ruins crushed him he would not fear.” [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A steadfast person remains resolute despite public pressure, tyrannical scorn, or catastrophic events. **In simple terms:** Stay firm despite opposition and disaster. Key Takeaway Hold your purpose, ignore external chaos. Themes integrity resilience leadership courage Mood determined serious reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political dissent - personal crisis - natural disaster - ethical decision making Key Concepts Stoicism moral fortitude inner strength Questions to Reflect On - What convictions anchor you when everything opposes you? - How do you balance firmness with flexibility? A Different Perspective Even the firm may falter under extreme personal or moral collapse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Thunder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thunder/) [Tyrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyrants/) ## Related quotes > [ He \[Barack Obama\] just seemed very firm about the change, and that's, like, his motto. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-kardashian/he-barack-obama-just-seemed-very-firm-about-the-change-and-that-s/) [Kim Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-kardashian/) > [“He took a breath. “I think there’s a reason I’m shitty in bed.” I felt myself frowning, unhappy with him running himself down. “Which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-calmes/he-took-a-breath-i-think-there-s-a-reason-i-m-shitty-in-bed-i-felt/) [Mary Calmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-calmes/) > [Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you, smiling, frowning, inviting, grand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/watching-a-coast-as-it-slips-by-the-ship-is-like-thinking-about-an/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Eve was still frowning at the pasta like she suspected it was going to do something clever, like try to escape from the pot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/eve-was-still-frowning-at-the-pasta-like-she-suspected-it-was-going/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [ I'm not a philosopher, Harry," \[Michael\] said. "But here's something for you to think about, at least. What goes around comes around. And sometimes… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/i-m-not-a-philosopher-harry-michael-said-but-here-s-something-for-you/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“After such prolonged frowning, it took her some moments to recall what her normal face even looked like, but after several attempts she was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/after-such-prolonged-frowning-it-took-her-some-moments-to-recall-what/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Do you think it would be quite so easy to kill them now that your weapon has been destroyed?' he sneered. 'No,' she said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/do-you-think-it-would-be-quite-so-easy-to-kill-them-now-that-your/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [Just... ate," M says, frowning at me a little. "Two days...ago." I grab my stomach again. "Feel empty. Feel... dead." He nods. "Marr...iage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/just-ate-m-says-frowning-at-me-a-little-two-days-ago-i-grab-my/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [I'm intensely private, and I've openly shown annoyance at the paparazzi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-moore/i-m-intensely-private-and-i-ve-openly-shown-annoyance-at-the-paparazzi/) [Demi Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-moore/) > [A frowning face can't bring out the beauty that you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/a-frowning-face-can-t-bring-out-the-beauty-that-you-are/) [Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/) > [“Oy, prince,” Puck circled back, frowning. “What are you doing? If you didn't know already, the old chicken plucker is on her way, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/oy-prince-puck-circled-back-frowning-what-are-you-doing-if-you-didn-t/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [“No matter how grouchy you're feeling, you'll find the smile more or less healing. It grows in a wreath all around the teeth thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-euwer/no-matter-how-grouchy-you-re-feeling-you-ll-find-the-smile-more-or/) Anthony Euwer > [Smile on your face even though your heart is frowning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-bieber/smile-on-your-face-even-though-your-heart-is-frowning/) [Justin Bieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-bieber/) > [If good people would but make goodness agreeable, and smile instead of frowning in their virtue, how many they would win to the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ussher/if-good-people-would-but-make-goodness-agreeable-and-smile-instead-of/) [James Ussher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ussher/) > [Come, then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/come-then-affliction-if-my-father-wills-and-be-my-frowning-friend-a/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) ## More by Horace > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/a-word-once-sent-abroad-flies-irrevocably/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Natales grate numeras? (Do you count your birthdays with gratitude?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/natales-grate-numeras-do-you-count-your-birthdays-with-gratitude/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ In a moment comes either death or joyful victory. \[Lat., Horae Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/in-a-moment-comes-either-death-or-joyful-victory-lat-horae-momento/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - It is a sweet and becoming thing to die for ones country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/dulce-et-decorum-est-pro-patria-mori-it-is-a-sweet-and-becoming-thing/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ Neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' shelves permit ordinary poets to exist. \[Lat., Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/neither-men-nor-gods-nor-booksellers-shelves-permit-ordinary-poets-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/avoid-inquisitive-persons-for-they-are-sure-to-be-gossips-their-ears/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/you-may-drive-out-nature-with-a-pitchfork-yet-she-still-will-hurry/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [There is a proper measure in all things, certain limits beyond which and short of which right is not to be found. Who so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-is-a-proper-measure-in-all-things-certain-limits-beyond-which/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Never despair while under the guidance and auspices of Teucer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/never-despair-while-under-the-guidance-and-auspices-of-teucer/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) [Explore all 1,000 Horace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More Burning quotes > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-an-ingot/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The entire cosmos is one vast burning bush, permeated by the fire of the divine power and glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/the-entire-cosmos-is-one-vast-burning-bush-permeated-by-the-fire-of/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [Two beautiful women crashing and burning for the sake of the Women's Championship!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-ross/two-beautiful-women-crashing-and-burning-for-the-sake-of-the-women-s/) [Jim Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-ross/) > [He lowered the window, and looked out at the rising sun. There was a ridge of ploughed land, with a plough upon it where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-lowered-the-window-and-looked-out-at-the-rising-sun-there-was-a/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) Juan Donoso Cortes > [Some fighters know when to stop on their own and go on to something else, and then some fighters have nothing to go back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-hagler/some-fighters-know-when-to-stop-on-their-own-and-go-on-to-something/) [Marvin Hagler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-hagler/) > [Death is staring too long into the burning sun and the relief of entering a cool, dark room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/death-is-staring-too-long-into-the-burning-sun-and-the-relief-of/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [All philanthropy ... is only a savory fumigation burning at the mouth of a sewer. This incense offering makes the air more endurable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/all-philanthropy-is-only-a-savory-fumigation-burning-at-the-mouth-of/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [Time is a vindictive bandit to steal the beauty of our former selves. We are left with sagging, rippled flesh and burning gums with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael/time-is-a-vindictive-bandit-to-steal-the-beauty-of-our-former-selves/) [Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael/) > [One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/one-writes-because-one-has-a-burning-desire-to-objectify-what-it-is/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Nearly all runners do their slow runs too fast, and their fast runs too slow." Ken Mierke says. "So they're just training their bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/nearly-all-runners-do-their-slow-runs-too-fast-and-their-fast-runs/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [Intense, burning desire is the motivational force that enables you to overcome any obstacle and achieve almost any goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/intense-burning-desire-is-the-motivational-force-that-enables-you-to/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Will closed his eyes. He could not hear Jem go, not anymore; he did not want to know the moment when he left and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/will-closed-his-eyes-he-could-not-hear-jem-go-not-anymore-he-did-not/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) Browse all 1,668 Burning quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When a man is just and firm in his purpose, The citizens burning to approve a wrong Or the frowning looks of a tyrant Do not shake his fixed mind, nor the Southwind. Wild lord of the uneasy Adriatic, Nor the thunder in the mighty hand of Jove: Should the heavens crack and tumble down, As the ruins crushed him he would not fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpose-the-citizens-burning-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Burning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpose-the-citizens-burning-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/horace-172_burning_when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpo_214209.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When a man is just and firm in his purpose, The citizens burning to approve a wrong Or the frowning looks of…” — Horace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Horace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When a man is just and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpose-the-citizens-burning-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/when-a-man-is-just-and-firm-in-his-purpose-the-citizens-burning-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```