To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold!

Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames!

Virgil

Aeneid

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More information about this quote

Topic

Greed Human nature

Author

Virgil

Source

Aeneid

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem

Language

Latin

Time

19 BC 10s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Poet Writer

From

Italy Europe

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Virgil. Aenē̆is [Aeneid]. 19 BC, bk. 3.

Current Citation

Virgil. The Aeneid, translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics, 2010, bk. 3.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Virgil about greed: “To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold!”
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A quote by Virgil about greed: “To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold!”
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A quote by Virgil about greed: “To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold!”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Human nature

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Walt Whitman

Song of Myself

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More information about this quote
Topic
Contradiction Inconsistency Human nature

Author

Walt Whitman
Source
Song of Myself Leaves of Grass
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1855 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 0
Original Citation

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York: Self-published, 1855, poem 1.

Current Citation

Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." Leaves of Grass and Other Writings. W. W. Norton & Company, 2002, sect. 51.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

You know as well as we do that right, as the word goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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More information about this quote
Topic
Justice Power relations Political theory

Author

Thucydides
Source
History of the Peloponnesian War
Genre
Historical literature
Language
Greek
Time
404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 5.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 5.

Another quote originally in Latin

They wonder much to hear that gold, which in itself is so useless a thing, should be everywhere so much esteemed, that even men for whom it was made, and by whom it has its value, should yet be thought of less value than it is.

Thomas More

Utopia

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More information about this quote
Topic
Gold

Author

Thomas More
Source
Utopia
Genre
Satire Political literature
Language
Latin
Time
1516 1520s 16th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

More, Thomas. Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia. Leuven: Self-published, 1516, bk. 2.

Current Citation

More, Thomas. Utopia, edited and translated by Paul Turner. Penguin Classics, 2003, bk. 2.