Skip to content

Can not Quote by Virgil

“If I can not bend Heaven, I shall move Hell.” quote by Virgil — Download Open image

“If I can not bend Heaven, I shall move Hell.”

About This Quote

Source Epic: Aeneas, Book 12, by Virgil, 29 BC

If divine power cannot be persuaded, one will resort to extreme measures.

In simple terms: When unable to change fate, fight against it.

Key Takeaway

Persist despite divine opposition.

Themes

determination fate rebellion

Mood

dramatic serious

Type

mythic philosophical

When to use this quote

political struggle
personal crisis
moral dilemma

Key Concepts

mythology ethics willpower

Questions to Reflect On

What limits exist when confronting destiny?
Is rebellion always justified?

A Different Perspective

Assumes agency over cosmic forces.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.3 out of 5 (6 ratings)

Can not Heaven Hell I can Ifs Moving

More by Virgil

We may be masters of our every lot By bearing it.

Image

“Facilis descensus Averni: noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis; sed revocare gradium superasque evadere ad auras. hoc opus, hic labor est.”

Image

The descent to the infernal regions is easy enough, but to retrace one's steps, and reach the air above, there's the rub.

Image

If I am unable to make the gods above relent, I shall move hell.

Image

Such is the love of praise, so great the anxiety for victory.

Image

“Spare the meek, but subdue the arrogant.”

Image

We have to thank God for this retirement.

Image

“..and why the winter suns so rush to bathe themselves in the sea and what slows down the nights to a long lingering crawl...”

Image

“forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit. and perhaps it will be pleasing to have remembered these things one day”

Image

“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes”

Image

The Britons are quite separated from all the world.

Image

One man excels in eloquence, another in arms.

Image

Explore all 273 Virgil quotes

More Can not quotes

Our beliefs are like the unquestioned commands, telling us how things are, what's possible and what's impossible, what we can and can not do.

Image

… Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists & turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small…

Image

He [Moliere] pleases all the world, but cannot please himself.

Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

Image

Our great thoughts, our great affections, the truths of our life, never leave us. Surely they can not separate from our consciousness, shall follow…

William Makepeace Thackeray

Image

You can not kill that which is already dead.

Image

Yes I try to do everything I can not to fail hideously.

Image

You can not have significance in this life if it is all about you. You get your significance, you find your joy in life…

Paul Tudor Jones

Image

If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.

William Shakespeare

Image

If I can not dance, I shall die!

Image

I have looked at so many photographs, I can not see them anymore.

Image

I think that freely available software can not only keep up with the evolution of commercial software, but often exceed what you can do…

Image

Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that can not be defined but is only to be…

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Image

Browse all 567 Can not quotes