Lindsey Davis Quotes

Discovering that a fraud exists is only the first step. It has to be proved and the proof has to be absolutely watertight.

Architectural drawings may look beautiful and be admired by critics but to be good, they have to work in daily use.

That's the trouble with foreign travel. You spend half your time trying to find edible food, and the rest fighting off men who profess extravagant love to your female companions. I'm amazed how many women believe outright lies from foreigners.

Luck is a wonderful luxury. What could better prove that some are born under a star of good fortune than the career (and the large, comfortable home) of the Great King?

'What's the verdict?'
'A shining new talent. A breathtaking story, written with mystical intensity. An author who will sell and sell.'

Never lend if you need repayment; never give where you want a return.

'Do you kill people?'
'Not regularly. It's too much trouble making my peace with the gods afterwards.'

Not all the fine civic building programmes in the world would ever displace the raw forces that drive most of humankind. This was the true city: greed, corruption and violence.

Smartness always helps in gaining access to the houses of the wealthy. Anyone with a clean face is acceptable to thugs.

He wore the purple; it was his entitlement. With it he had neither wreath nor jewels. For him the best adornment of rank was acute native intelligence.

Love and death are gritty subjects. Their appropriate handling by poets does not require myrtle petals and violets.

In an ideal world I ought to have gone with him to observe their reactions, but in an ideal world heroes never get tired or depressed; what's more, heroes are paid more than me.

In fact, making up a spiteful lie has become respectable. Today's "jesters" are outright public nuisances.

The new "humour", if you can call it that, is pure malicious gossip. Instead of making a genuine point, it's now good enough to repeat any ribald story without a thought for whether it's even true.

I asked why Grumio had had to turn to lesser things.'No call. In my father or grandfather's day all I would have needed in life were my cloak and shoes, my flask and strigil, a cup and knife to take to dinner, and a small wallet for my earnings. Everyone who could find the wherewithal would eagerly ask a wandering jokesmith in.'
'Sounds just like being a vagrant philosopher!'
'A cynic,' he agreed readily. 'Exactly. Most cynics are witty and all clowns are cynical. Meet us on the road, and who could tell the difference?’
'Me, I hope! I'm a good Roman. I'd take a five-mile detour to avoid a philosopher.'