The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (107 page)

Ciano, Count Galeazzo
1903–44

1
Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
literally "no-one wants to recognise defeat as his own"

Diary
(1946) vol. 2, 9 September 1942

 
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Cibber, Colley
1671–1757

1
Oh! how many torments lie in the small circle of a wedding-ring!

The Double Gallant
(1707) act 1, sc. 2

2
Off with his head—so much for Buckingham.

Richard III
(1700) act 4 (adapted from Shakespeare).

3
Perish the thought!

Richard III
(1700) act 5 (adapted from Shakespeare)

4
Conscience avaunt, Richard's himself again.

Richard III
(1700) act 5 (adapted from Shakespeare)

 
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Cicero
(
Marcus Tullius Cicero
) 106
bc

1
Salus populi suprema est lex.The good of the people is the chief law.

De Legibus
bk. 3, ch. 8

2
"Ipse dixit." "Ipse" autem erat Pythagoras."He himself said", and this "himself" was Pythagoras.

De Natura Deorum
bk. 1, ch. 10

3
Summum bonum.The highest good.

De Officiis
bk. 1, ch. 5

4
O tempora, O mores!Oh, the times! Oh, the manners!

In Catilinam
Speech 1, ch. 1

5
Civis Romanus sum.I am a Roman citizen.

In Verrem
Speech 5, ch. 147;

6
Quod di omen avertant. May the gods avert this omen.

Third Philippic
ch. 35

7
The sinews of war, unlimited money.

Fifth Philippic
ch. 5

8
Laws are silent in time of war.

Pro Milone
ch. 11

9
Cui bono?To whose profit?

Pro Roscio Amerino
ch. 84 and
Pro Milone
ch. 12, sect. 32, quoting L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla

10
Cum dignitate otium.Leisure with honour.

Pro Sestio
ch. 98

11
O happy Rome, born when I was consul!

Juvenal
Satires
poem 10, l. 122

12
The young man should be praised, decorated, and got rid of.
of Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus

referred to in a letter from Decimus Brutus to Cicero

 
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Cioran, E. M.
1911–95

1
I do nothing, granted. But I see the hours pass—which is better than trying to fill them.

in
Guardian
11 May 1993

 
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Clairmont, Claire
1798–1879

1
I shall ever remember the gentleness of your manners and the wild originality of your countenance.

letter to Lord Byron, 16 April 1816

 
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Clare, John
1793–1864

1
He could not die when the trees were green,
For he loved the time too well.

"The Dying Child"

2
My life hath been one chain of contradictions,
Madhouses, prisons, whore-shops.

"Child Harold" (written 1841) l. 146

3
A quiet, pilfering, unprotected race.

"The Gipsy Camp" (1841)

4
I long for scenes where man hath never trod
A place where woman never smiled or wept
There to abide with my Creator God
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie
The grass below, above, the vaulted sky.

"I Am" (1848)

 
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