Revenge is sweeter than life itself. So think fools.
The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now concerns itself no more, and longs eagerly for just two things: bread and circuses!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Juvenal comments on how the populace desires basic needs and entertainment rather than meaningful leadership or governance.
This quote by Juvenal highlights the decline of civic responsibility and the shift in public interests towards mere survival and amusement. It suggests that the people who once held power and authority have become less engaged in societal matters, now yearning only for bread, representing basic sustenance, and circuses, symbolizing entertainment and distraction. This reflects a critique of society's deterioration when the populace prioritizes trivial pleasures over the pursuit of deeper values and responsibilities.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about civic engagement and society, one could use this quote to illustrate the complacency of the masses.
More from Juvenal
All quotes βPeace visits not the guilty mind.
An incurable itch for scribbling takes possession of many, and grows inveterate in their insane breasts.
Poverty is bitter, but it has no harder pang than that it makes men ridiculous.
All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.
This is his first punishment, that by the verdict of his own heart no guilty man is acquitted.
Similar quotes
Money poisons you when you've got it, and starves you when you haven't.
Anything can become excusable when seen from the standpoint of the result
That which makes you miserable is the only sin. That which takes you away from yourself is the only thing to be avoided.
Things are never as bad or as good as they seem.
The Soviet system of propaganda and censorship existed not so much for the purpose of spreading a particular message as for the purpose of making learning impossible, replacing facts with mush, and handing the faceless state a monopoly on defining an ever-shifting reality.
Ketut, why is life all crazy like this?" I asked my medicine man the next day...So what can we do about the craziness of the world?" Nothing." Ketut laughed, but with a dose of kindness. "This is nature of world. This is destiny. Worry about your craziness only-make you in peace.