Vespasian
ad
9–79
1
Pecunia non olet.Money has no smell.
upon Titus's objecting to his tax on public lavatories, Vespasian held a coin to Titus's nose; on being told it didn't smell, he replied, "Atque e lotio est [Yes, that's made from urine]"
traditional summary of Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Vespasian" sect. 23
2
Vae, puto deus fio.Woe is me, I think I am becoming a god.
when fatally ill
Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Vespasian" sect. 23, subsect. 4
3
An emperor ought to die standing.
Vespasian (
ad
9–79)
Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
"Vespasian" sect. 24
Victoria, Queen
1819–1901
1
I will be good.
on being shown a chart of the line of succession, 11 March 1830
Theodore Martin
The Prince Consort
(1875) vol. 1, ch. 2
2
It was with some emotion…that I beheld Albert—who is beautiful.
of her first meeting with Prince Albert,
c.
1838
attributed; Stanley Weintraub
Albert: Uncrowned King
(1997)
3
He speaks to Me as if I was a public meeting.
of Gladstone
G. W. E. Russell
Collections and Recollections
(1898) ch. 14
4
We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.
on the Boer War during "Black Week", December 1899
Lady Gwendolen Cecil
Life of Robert, Marquis of Salisbury
(1931) vol. 3, ch. 6
5
We are not amused.
attributed, in Caroline Holland
Notebooks of a Spinster Lady
(1919) ch. 21, 2 January 1900
Vidal, Gore
1925–
1
Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.
in
Sunday Times Magazine
16 September 1973
Viera Gallo, José Antonio
1943–
1
Socialism can only arrive by bicycle.
Ivan Illich
Energy and Equity
(1974) epigraph
Vigny, Alfred de
1797–1863
1
J'aime le son du cor, le soir, au fond des bois.I love the sound of the horn, at night, in the depth of the woods.
"Le Cor" (1826)
2
Seul le silence est grand; tout le reste est faiblesse.
Silence alone is great; all else is feebleness.
"La mort du loup" (1843) pt. 3
Villiers, Philippe-Auguste
de L'Isle-Adam 1838–89
1
Living? The servants will do that for us.
Axël
(1890) pt. 4, sect. 2