Ancient rome Quote by Steven Saylor
““But sometimes...sometimes I wake with a mad thought in my head: What if that boy's life mattered as much as anyone else's, even Caesar's? What if I were offered a choice: to doom that boy to the misery of his fate, or to spare him, and by doing so, to wreck all Caesar's ambitions? I'm haunted by that thought - which is ridiculous! It's self-evident that Caesar matters infinitely more than that Gaulish boy; one stands poised to rule the world, and the other is a miserable slae, if he even still lives. Some men are great, others are insignificant, and it behooves those of us who are in-between to ally ourselves with the greatest and to despise the smallest. To even begin to imagine that the Gaulish boy maters as much as Caesar is to presume that some mystical quality resides in every man and makes his life equal to that of any other, and surely the lesson life teaches us is quite the opposite! In stength and intellect, men are anything but equal, and the gods lavish their attention on some more than on others.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: A Murder of Crows by Steven Saylor, 2008
The passage argues that human lives differ vastly in significance, urging alignment with the powerful and dismissing the notion of inherent equality.
In simple terms: Not all lives are equal; the powerful matter more.
Recognize and respect power structures.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- political leadership
- military strategy
- personal ambition
- social alliances
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Is it just to prioritize power over humanity?
- How does this view affect empathy?
It overlooks the moral value of individual dignity and the potential of the seemingly insignificant.