--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And what thoughts or memories, would you…" description: "\"“And what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? Was I thinking of the Sibyl's prophecy, o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/robert-graves-2410_five-years_and-what-thoughts-or-memories-would-you_2556833.jpg" --- # And what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were… ![“And what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? Was I thinking of the Sibyl's prophecy, of the omen of the wolf-cub, of Pollio's advice, or of Briseis's dream? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my three…” quote by Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/robert-graves-2410_five-years_and-what-thoughts-or-memories-would-you_2556833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/robert-graves-2410_five-years_and-what-thoughts-or-memories-would-you_2556833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/138/robert-graves-2410_five-years_and-what-thoughts-or-memories-would-you_2556833.jpg) > ““And what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? Was I thinking of the Sibyl's prophecy, of the omen of the wolf-cub, of Pollio's advice, or of Briseis's dream? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my three Imperial predecessors, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, their lives and deaths? Of the great danger I was still in from the conspirators, and from the Senate, and from the Gaurds battalions at the Camp? Of Messalina and our unborn child? Of my grandmother Livia and my promise to deify her if I ever became Emperor? Of Postumus and Germanicus? Of Agrippina and Nero? Of Camilla? No, you would never guess what was passing through my mind. But I shall be frank and tell you what it was, though the confession is a shameful one. I was thinking, 'So, I'm Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now. Public recitals to large audiences. And good books too, thirty-five years' hard work in them. It wont be unfair. Pollio used to get attentive audiences by giving expensive dinners. He was a very sound historian, and the last of the Romans. My history of Carthage is full of amusing anecdotes. I'm sure that they'll enjoy it.”” [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An emperor reflects on his lineage, ambitions, and the absurdity of seeking fame through literature, revealing vanity and self‑justification. **In simple terms:** An emperor ponders his legacy and selfish motives. Key Takeaway Beware vanity in seeking legacy. Themes history ambition vanity self‑reflection Mood reflective ironic Type historical literary When to use this quote - historical fiction - personal monologue - psychological insight Key Concepts imperial legacy literary ambition Questions to Reflect On - Why does he justify his actions through writing? - What does this say about power and legacy? A Different Perspective The narrative may romanticize imperial power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carthage Amusing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carthage-amusing-1570408/) [Five years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Good book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-book/) [Grandmother Livia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandmother-livia-1570407/) [Historian Romans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian-romans-1570406/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Thinking Emperor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-emperor-1570405/) [Thinking Sibyl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-sibyl-1570409/) ## Related quotes > [I was thinking, "So, I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! 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(Waterstones Trafalgar Square)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waterstones/words-cannot-do-justice-to-the-pleasures-of-a-good-bookshop/) [Waterstones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waterstones/) > [Well, I very rarely watch classical adaptations, because they usually do very good books, and a lot of the things they do... I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marsh/well-i-very-rarely-watch-classical-adaptations-because-they-usually/) [Jean Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marsh/) > [“Reading a good book is like taking a journey.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-gulliford/reading-a-good-book-is-like-taking-a-journey/) [Emma Gulliford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-gulliford/) > [O, there is lovely to feel a book, a good book, firm in the hand, for its fatness holds rich promise, and you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-llewellyn/o-there-is-lovely-to-feel-a-book-a-good-book-firm-in-the-hand-for-its/) [Richard Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-llewellyn/) > [“A good book is like a stream, with which we can flow slowly, playfully, it lets us savor the joy of weaving the magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balroop-singh/a-good-book-is-like-a-stream-with-which-we-can-flow-slowly-playfully/) [Balroop Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balroop-singh/) > [In Russia there is an emigration of intelligence: émigrés cross the frontier in order to read and to write good books. But in doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-russia-there-is-an-emigration-of-intelligence-migr-s-cross-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Natalie was bored in her marriage. At first she could hardly admit it to herself. After all, they were a perfect match: similar backgrounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-becker-holstein/natalie-was-bored-in-her-marriage-at-first-she-could-hardly-admit-it/) [Barbara Becker Holstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-becker-holstein/) > [Those old hypocrites. They talk about killing witches but the Good Book’s full of magic. Turning the Nile to blood and parting the Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/those-old-hypocrites-they-talk-about-killing-witches-but-the-good/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ann-shaffer/reading-good-books-ruins-you-for-enjoying-bad-books/) [Mary Ann Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ann-shaffer/) ## More by Robert Graves > [The poet's first rule must be never to bore his readers; and his best way of keeping this rule is never to bore himself-which,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-poet-s-first-rule-must-be-never-to-bore-his-readers-and-his-best/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [She told me that all the girls in Annezin prayed every night for the war to end and for the English to go away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/she-told-me-that-all-the-girls-in-annezin-prayed-every-night-for-the/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“As quick as boiled asparagus!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-quick-as-boiled-asparagus/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Children born of fairy stock Never need for shirt or frock Never want for food or fire Always get their heart's desire Jingle pockets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/children-born-of-fairy-stock-never-need-for-shirt-or-frock-never-want/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [To know only one thing well is to have a barbaric mind: civilization implies the graceful relation of all varieties of experience to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/to-know-only-one-thing-well-is-to-have-a-barbaric-mind-civilization/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Before an attack, the platoon pools all its available cash and the survivors divide it up afterwards. Those who are killed can't complain, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/before-an-attack-the-platoon-pools-all-its-available-cash-and-the/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“To resist the social pressure now put even on one's leisure time, requires a tougher upbringing and a more obstinate willfulness about going one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/to-resist-the-social-pressure-now-put-even-on-one-s-leisure-time/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“The child alone a poet is: Spring and Fairyland are his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-child-alone-a-poet-is-spring-and-fairyland-are-his/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [The art of poetry consists in taking the poem through draft after draft, without losing its inspirational magic: he removes everything irrelevant or distracting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-art-of-poetry-consists-in-taking-the-poem-through-draft-after/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Entrance and exit wounds aresilvered clean, The track aches only when the rain reminds. The one-legged man forgets his leg of wood. The one-armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/entrance-and-exit-wounds-aresilvered-clean-the-track-aches-only-when/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [What we now call "finance" is, I hold, an intellectual perversion of what began as warm human love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/what-we-now-call-finance-is-i-hold-an-intellectual-perversion-of-what/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Manticor in Arabia (The manticors of the montaines Mighte feed them on thy braines.--Skelton.) Thick and scented daisies spread Where with surface dull like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/manticor-in-arabia-the-manticors-of-the-montaines-mighte-feed-them-on/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [As you are woman, so be lovely: As you are lovely, so be various, Merciful as constant, constant as various, So be mine, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-you-are-woman-so-be-lovely-as-you-are-lovely-so-be-various/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Philosophy is antipoetic. Philosophize about mankind and you brush aside individual uniqueness, which a poet cannot do without self-damage. Unless, for a start, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/philosophy-is-antipoetic-philosophize-about-mankind-and-you-brush/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Abstract reason, formerly the servant of practical human reasons, has everywhere become its master, and denies poetry any excuse for existence. Though philosophers like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/abstract-reason-formerly-the-servant-of-practical-human-reasons-has/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) [Explore all 166 Robert Graves quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) ## More Five years quotes > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Something had been confirmed: I was worth giving a shit about; I was getting to be a successful sick person. Sick is when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/something-had-been-confirmed-i-was-worth-giving-a-shit-about-i-was/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“His Army Ranger unit had always been ready for an ambush. Five years in special ops had made him suspicious of most. On that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-perini/his-army-ranger-unit-had-always-been-ready-for-an-ambush-five-years/) [Robin Perini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-perini/) > [“I looked at him, tipping down the coarse wine like a man who expects to put up with worse. I felt I was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/i-looked-at-him-tipping-down-the-coarse-wine-like-a-man-who-expects/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) > [I was sober for five years a long time ago and was just bored out of my tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/i-was-sober-for-five-years-a-long-time-ago-and-was-just-bored-out-of/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [“Whatand why were never questions for me. How was the only question. When I look back now, I realize that I never thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhguru/whatand-why-were-never-questions-for-me-how-was-the-only-question/) [Sadhguru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhguru/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“most professionals progress until they reach an “acceptable” level, and then they plateau. 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I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-mankoff/i-have-entered-the-new-yorker-s-cartoon-caption-contest-almost-weekly/) [Bob Mankoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-mankoff/) [Browse all 2,724 Five years quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And what thoughts or memories, would you guess, were passing through my mind on this extraordinary occasion? Was I thinking of the Sibyl's prophecy, of the omen of the wolf-cub, of Pollio's advice, or of Briseis's dream? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my grandfather and liberty? Of my three Imperial predecessors, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, their lives and deaths? Of the great danger I was still in from the conspirators, and from the Senate, and from the Gaurds battalions at the Camp? Of Messalina and our unborn child? Of my grandmother Livia and my promise to deify her if I ever became Emperor? Of Postumus and Germanicus? Of Agrippina and Nero? Of Camilla? No, you would never guess what was passing through my mind. But I shall be frank and tell you what it was, though the confession is a shameful one. I was thinking, 'So, I'm Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I'll be able to make people read my books now. Public recitals to large audiences. And good books too, thirty-five years' hard work in them. It wont be unfair. Pollio used to get attentive audiences by giving expensive dinners. He was a very sound historian, and the last of the Romans. My history of Carthage is full of amusing anecdotes. 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