Cincinnatus Quotes

What are these hopes, and who is this savior?” “Imagination,” replied Cincinnatus.

In accordance with the law the death sentence was announced to Cincinnatus C. in a whisper.

This night the password was silence, and the soldier at the gate responded with silence to Cincinnatus’ silence and let him pass; likewise at all the other gates.

Or is this all but obsolete romantic rot, Cincinnatus?

Now I would solicit the particular attention of those numerous people who imagine that money is everything in this world, and that rank and ability are inseparable from wealth: let them observe that Cincinnatus, the one man in whom Rome reposed all her hope of survival, was at that moment working a little three-acre farm (now known as Quinctian meadows) west of the Tiber, just opposite the spot where the shipyards are today. A mission from the city found him at work on his land - digging a ditch, maybe, or ploughing. Greetings were exchanged, and he was asked - with a prayer for God's blessing on himself and his country - to put on his toga and hear the Senate's instructions. This naturally surprised him, and, asking if all were well, he told his wife Racilia to run to their cottage and fetch his toga. The toga was brought, and wiping the grimy sweat from his hands and face he put it on; at once the envoys from the city saluted him, with congratulations, as Dictator, invited him to enter Rome, and informed him of the terrible danger of Minucius's army.

From his earliest years Cincinnatus, by some strange and happy chance comprehending his danger, carefully managed to conceal a certain peculiarity. He was impervious to the rays of others, and therefore produced when off his guard a bizarre impression, as of a lone dark obstacle in the world of souls transparent to one other; he learned however to feign translucence, employing a complex system of optical illusions, as it were--but he had only to forget himself, to allow a momentary lapse in self control, in the manipulation of cunningly illuminated facets and angles at which he turned his soul, and immediately there was alarm. In the midst of the excitement of a game his coevals would suddenly forsake him, as if they had sensed that his lucid gaze and the azure of his temples were but a crafty deception and that actually Cincinnatus was opaque. Sometimes, in the midst of sudden silence, the teacher, in a chagrined perplexity, would gather up all the reserves of skin around his eyes, gaze at him for a long while and finally say: "What is wrong with you, Cincinnatus?" Then Cincinnatus would take hold of himself, and, clutching his own self to his breast, would remove that self to a safe place.

And yet I have been fashioned so painstakingly,' thought Cincinnatus as he wept in the darkness. 'The curvature of my spine has been calculated so well, so mysteriously. I feel, tightly rolled up in my calves, so many miles that I could yet run in my lifetime. My head is so comfortable.' A clock struck a half, pertaining to some unknown hour. (Invitation to a beheading)

What was needed, was not merely a resolute man, but a man who was also free from the net of legal controls. Such being the circumstances, Quinctius declared that he would nominate Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus as Dictator, convinced that in him were courage and resolution equal to the majestic authority of that office. The proposal was unanimously approved, but Cincinnatus, hesitating to accept the burden of responsibility, asked what the Senate was thinking of to wish to expose an old man like him to what must prove the sternest of struggles; but hesitation was in vain, for when from every corner of the House came the cry that in that aged heart lay more wisdom - yes, and courage too - than in all the rest put together, and when praises, well deserved, were heaped upon him and the consul refused to budge an inch from his purpose, Cincinnatus gave way and, with a prayer to God to save his old age from bringing loss or dishonor upon his country in her trouble, was named Dictator by the consul.

And yet I have been fashioned so painstakingly,” thought Cincinnatus as he wept in the darkness. “The curvature of my spine has been calculated so well, so mysteriously. I feel, tightly rolled up in my calves, so many miles that I could yet run in my lifetime. My head is so comfortable …” The clock struck a half, pertaining to some unknown hour.

Cincinnatus, after passing many other doors, stumbled, hopped, and found himself in a small courtyard, filled with various parts of the dismantled moon.

Fragments of these speeches, in which the words 'translucence' and 'opacity' rose and burst like bubbles, now sounded in Cincinnatus's ears, and the rush of blood became applause

The Romans had a great general named Cincinnatus. The legend is that he had wanted to live quietly on his farm but was persuaded twice to return to public

What anguish! Cincinnatus, what anguish! What stone anguish, Cincinnatus—the merciless bong of the clock, and the obese spider, and the yellow walls, and the roughness of the black wool blanket. The skim on the chocolate. Pluck it with two fingers at the very center and snatch it whole from the surface, no longer a flat covering, but a wrinkled brown little skirt. The liquid is tepid underneath, sweetish and stagnant. Three slices of toast with tortoise shell burns. A round pat of butter embossed with the monogram of the director. What anguish, Cincinnatus, how many crumbs in the bed!

The class's favorite book was Nabokov's Invitation to a Beheading. In this novel, Nabokov differentiates Cincinnatus C., his imaginative and lonely hero, from those around him through his originality in a society where uniformity is not only the norm but also the law.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, for example, who more than two millennia later gave his name to the American city of Cincinnati, is supposed to have returned from semi-exile in the 450s BCE to become dictator and lead Roman armies to victory against their enemies before nobly retiring straight back to his farm without seeking further political glory.

One Cincinnatus was counting, but the other Cincinnatus had already stopped heeding the sound of the unnecessary count which was fading away in the distance; and, with a clarity he had never experienced before – at first almost painful, so suddenly did it come, but then suffusing him with joy, he reflected: why am I here? Why am I lying like this? And, having asked himself these simple questions, he answered them by getting up and looking around.

What a misunderstanding” said Cincinnatus and suddenly burst out laughing. He stood up and took off the dressing gown, the skullcap, the slippers. He took off the linen trousers and shirt. He took off his head like a toupee, took off his collarbones like shoulder straps, took off his rib cage like a hauberk. He took off his hips and his legs, he took off his arms like gauntlets and threw them in a corner. What was left of him gradually dissolved, hardly coloring the air.

What a misunderstanding, said Cincinnatus and suddenly burst out laughing. He stood up and took off the dressing-gown, the skullcap, the slippers. he took off the linen trousers and shirt He took off his head like a toupee, took off his collarbones like shoulder straps, took off his rib cage like a hauberk. He took off his hips and his legs, he took off his arms like gauntlets and threw them in a corner. What was left of him gradually dissolved, hardly colouring the air.

In his youth, he had been interested in Caesar and had read a bit about him. Later, as an adult, he sought to model his public persona upon Cato—upright, honest, patriotic, self-sacrificing, and a bit remote. Then, fighting for American independence, Washington had a new Roman role thrust upon him, that of the celebrated general Fabius, who defeated an invader from overseas mainly by avoiding battle and wearing out his foe. Finally, after the war, he would play his greatest role, the commander who relinquished power and returned to his farm, an American Cincinnatus.

Lamentations about the tribulations of public life, followed by celebrations of the bucolic splendor of retirement to rural solitude, had become a familiar, even formulaic, posture within the leadership class of the revolutionary generation, especially within the Virginia dynasty. Everyone knew the classical models of latter-day seclusion represented by Cincinnatus and described by Cicero and Virgil. Declarations of principled withdrawal from the hurly-burly of politics to the natural rhythms of one’s fields or farms had become rhetorical rituals. If Washington’s retirement hymn featured the “vine and fig tree,” Jefferson’s idolized “my family, my farm, and my books.” The motif had become so commonplace that John Adams, an aspiring Cicero himself, claimed that the Virginians had worn out the entire Ciceronian syndrome: “It seems the Mode of becoming great is to retire,” he wrote Abigail in 1796. “It is marvellous how political Plants grow in the shade.” Washington

The Lamar Life stationary carried on its letterhead an oval portrait of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, for whom the Company had been named: a Mississippian who had been a member of Congress, Secretary of the Interior under Cleveland, and a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, a powerful orator who had pressed for the better reconciliation of North and South after the Civil War.

Cincinnatus. He was an emperor in the Roman Empire. Cincinnati, the city, by the way, is named after him because he was a big idol of George Washington’s. He is a great example of success because he was asked to reluctantly step into power and become the emperor and to help, because Rome was about to get annihilated by all the wars and battles. He was a farmer. Powerful guy. He went and took on the challenge, took over Rome, took over the army, and won the war. After they won the war, he felt he’d done his mission and was asked to go and be the emperor, and he gave the ring back and went back to farming. He didn’t only do this once. He did it twice. When they tried to overthrow the empire from within, they asked him back and he came back. He cleaned up the mess through great, great leadership. He had tremendous leadership quality in bringing people together. And again, he gave the ring back and went back to farming.

Someone might object that men have always been like us, that there was greed, effeminacy, and corruption from the foundation of the city, and I would point to proportion. Men so easily forget Nature and Reason, yes, and this is a constant inclination, and so far I agree with the objection. But in some places virtue is made easy and in others hard, and in Rome the former become the latter. You can see it in our leaders. Think of Cincinnatus, respected enough to be offered the dictatorship in a crisis, respectful enough to give it up when the crisis had passed. That is virtue. I think I can stop with this one example—no need to contrast him with recent dictators.

Cincinnatus.

In a time when world agreement is so necessary and yet so hard to realize, Rome recalls the one period when it was almost realized, a period which (some) considered the happiest in human history.”516   Robert Broughton

The twentieth century possessed a clear-cut purpose—the unquestioned victory of democracy—the accomplishment of which resulted in a gift to the world. The century’s greatest heroes reflect the triumph of a democratic way of life over totalitarianism.

A well-lived life of virtue and work in anonymity is now perceived as “drab and undesirable,” while according to Hollywood writer, Clive James, «fame (is) found increasingly fascinating.»518 Instead of actions and virtues taking on lives greater than any one person, the cult of personality dominates—the celebrity is remembered for who he is, not for what he lived. In such circumstances, latter-day Napoleons—not Cincinnati—thrive, the former having thirsted so badly “to be famous, and…want(ing)…fame to last after. death.”519 Daniel Boorstin contrasts the heroism of values and deeds with that of celebrity:   A man’s name (previously) was not apt to become a household word unless he exemplified greatness in some way or other. The twentieth century has confused celebrity worship and hero worship. We have willingly been misled into believing. that fame—well-knowness—is. a hallmark ofgreatness.520

Roman rule possessed the following principles: -put no pressure on others to conform, -destroy no cultural traditions, -suppress no difference of language, -impose the way of peace, -build an institutional framework strong enough to be taken for granted as people go about their daily concerns, -enable representation of all people in government and allow their ambitions to be fulfilled.530

The defensive posture is attributed to Rome’s focus on the consolidation of the city around its seven hills, but it also reflects Rome’s internal class warfare and confused structure of governance that relied on crisis management, versus proactive, governance.

The most singularly significant bond between Cincinnatus and Washington is Washington’s resignation of the military commission at the end of the Revolution. As a military leader, Washington fought the entire conflict under the assumptions of only two formal pledges: to resign as soon as independence was won and to receive no compensation for his efforts.394

Both men were at peace with their cause, seeking no greater glory than service itself. They reached a state where their internal compass controlled their external behavior.

There is a lure in power. It can get into a man’s blood just as gambling and lust for money have been known to do. This is a Republic. The greatest in the history of the world. I want this country to continue as a Republic. Cincinnatus and Washington pointed the way. When Rome forgot Cincinnatus, its downfall began. When we forget the examples of such men as Washington, Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. then we start down the road. to ruin.”501

Like Cincinnatus, most American servicemen returned to the proverbial plow. In 1945, we had 12 million men and women in uniform. One year later, we had fewer than 3 million wearing a uniform.505

Citadel graduate, Congressman Steve Buyer, cites the institution’s mission as, “to prepare citizen-soldiers, a concept that dates back to Cincinnatus.” These direct linkages to modern-day Cincinnatus images conjure the timeless citizen-warrior ideal of the patriot who rises up in defense of the nation in times of duress and then returns home once duty is served.

Truman recognized the importance of submitting to an established pattern in a system much larger than himself. He tied his decision to the importance of the time-honored, limiting presidential precedence. In his declaration on this matter, Truman stated simply, “When Rome forgot Cincinnatus, its downfall began.”508

The second factor that led to the Roman society’s ability to organize collectively in the face of threat was the internal situation, to include such factors as the family, tradition, obedience, spirituality, incentives and concessions. It was a combination of these factors that helped the society overcome an unjust political and social structure and band together in the face of threat.

To identify with an ancient legend such as Cincinnatus, or a living legend such as Washington, Franklin, or Jefferson, was to ask for nothing other than the recognition from fellow Americans for having done so.

Charles Royster analyzes this pursuit of model-based heroism as:   …a concern for… reputation in the word “honor. “ The term referred not simply to. conscience or self-esteem, but also to pub- lic acknowledgement of(a) claim to respect. To have honor and to be honored were very close, if not the same.374

Karl von Clausewitz states that in war, uncertainty, danger, and unpredictability are countered only through such moral forces of courage, self-confidence, esprit, and a sense of duty.96

This people learned to put aside domestic differences, develop sound military and civil defense tactics, and build a collective sense of well-being by working together for a common purpose. This form of collective action is essential to a society. It comprises one of the founding organizing principles of any group or groups of people who successfully gather together to complete higher order tasks.97

The Farm: Leaving and Returning. Aristocratic farmers in agrarian societies, Washington and Cincinnatus symbolized “first citizens” in their noble pursuits of their days’ leading industry. That they both favored their farms over the glamorous of state only added luster to the shared symbolism and enabled even the commonest of citizens to grasp its significance. Two farmers called from the fields to lead their people and return home. Together, they represented the hero’s painful separation from one’s personal commitments on behalf of a public cause.

Both men were transformers in life; they thought not of themselves but of a higher cause. They assumed truly heroic transformations in bringing to their societies the idea “you have been thinking one way, you now have to think a different way.”399

James Madison’s logic in 1787 still holds, a further offering of this form will someday be made available to the world. Madison states:   …extend the sphere and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult to all who feel it to discover their own strength and to act in unison with each other.42

Second, the age in which we live is one of transitions, an age which in some ways is unparalleled in history, but in other ways is strikingly similar to the successful transition of fledgling Rome from a monarchy to the longest lasting republic in the history of the word.

The rare example of thoughtful, studied deliberation occurred in 1787 with the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Now, events call for the same studiousness, deliberation, and debate on governance at a global scale. If that debate does not occur, events themselves, through those “factions” or what are today known as “special interests,” will determine the fundamental goals and principles under which future civilization will be governed.

What remains under consideration is how Cincinnatus, the early Republic, and the other examples, cultures, and structures of governance will be considered in future decisions of how human beings will live in a globally connected commercial, technological, and cultural world.

If the Roman Republic is an example at all, citizens and leaders will realize that those decision makers will base their decisions on particular interests and advantages they see for what James Madison called a “faction.

People living in democratic republics should know not only of its origins but also of the imperfect democratic struggle it spawned. Such appreciation might alleviate the taking of one’s way of life for granted.

Altogether he made a most noble, respectable appearance, and I really think him the first man in the world. After hav- ing had the management and care of the whole Continental army, he has now retired without receiving any pay for his trouble. he knows how to prefer solid happiness in his retirement. I admire him as superior to even the Roman heroes themselves. I am told during the war he was never seen to smile. he had only the good of his country at heart. his greatest pride now is, to be thought the first farmer in America. He is quite a Cincinnatus, and often works with his men himself—— strips off his coat and labors like a common man ..375

The liberty of this country and its great interests will never be secure if its public men become mere menials to do the biddings of their constituents instead of being representatives in the true sense of the word, looking to the lasting prosperity and future interests of the whole country.489

.in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid.”429

In Rome’s movement away from a republic, Livy led a first century B.C. revival through the Cincinnatus example. To communicate Roman virtue through the ancient legends to his age, Livy faced a project similar to the one faced by the United States’ founders; he quarried history in a study of models and men to either emulate or avoid so as to forestall the “dangers of avarice, luxury, and passion.”358 Used in the Livy project to describe the ideal citizen-soldier model for a new generation, Cincinnatus was a spark intended to ignite a renewal in traditional Roman values.

It doesn’t help to try to change (the system) to accord with your system of thought. The momentum of history behind it is too great for anything really significant to evolve from that kind of action. The thing to do is learn to live in your period of history as a human being. That’s something else, and it can be done.364

the founding fathers wholeheartedly believed “life was a school for virtue, and one must find the proper teachers.”366 As a teacher, someone of Cincinnatus’s virtue was “emulated, and spread,” as Hume said, by “contagion.”367

Voters have soaked up a noggin full of negativity over the last twenty years, with an economy we had to bring back from collapse, plus terrorist attacks and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t want to belabor these points, but your listeners know what I’m talking about. I think the antidote is to appreciate what we have, enjoy where we live, and make a positive contribution to our communities. My Cracker Pride campaign is balanced by the spirit of Cincinnatus. He was a farmer and Roman general who was twice made dictator. And he had the forbearance to resign as dictator as soon as he had vanquished Rome’s enemies. He became a civic ideal for good leadership. That’s the spirit I want in my district and in my campaign. - Veda Rabadel, The Tea & Crackers Campaign.

Cincinnatus was named for the great Roman general who saved his country and then set down his power and returned to the farm to live out his life in peace.

With the war drawing to a close, Henry Knox spearheaded the formation of a fraternal order of army officers called the Society of the Cincinnati. Its aims seemed laudable enough: to succor the families of needy officers, to preserve the union and liberties for which they had fought, and to maintain a social network among the officers. Its very name paid homage to George Washington: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a Roman consul who had rescued Rome in war, then relinquished power. Little dreaming how controversial the organization would become, Washington agreed to serve as president and was duly elected on June 19, 1783.