# quotation, supposedly from Caesar, all over the web

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotation-supposedly-from-caesar-all-over-the-web/127917>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 11, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotation-supposedly-from-caesar-all-over-the-web/127917 "2002-09-11T03:57:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![bloomingpouf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@bloomingpouf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bloomingpouf)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotation-supposedly-from-caesar-all-over-the-web/127917/21 "2002-09-12T19:51:52Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fifteen Iguana \*  
> \*\*Today someone sent me a message containing the following quotation:  
> So, my question: can anyone find a source for this quotation? Shakespeare? Julius Caesar? Sid Caesar? Can anyone find a citation of it that dates back before September 2001?
> 
> Mucho thankies.
> 
> Fifteen Iguana \*\*

This Quote has been bugging the proverbial \*\*\*\* out of me for weeks. it’s being quoted Willy Nilly and is likelt to end up making a pacafist look a fool ( And there is no reason that anyone would deliberatly do that is there???)

The earliest citation that I can find is [http://www.ed-one.com/journal/2002\_02\_01\_archive.html](http://www.ed-one.com/journal/2002_02_01_archive.html) dated as "Monday, February 25, 2002 "

Seems odd that it has so few references before September 2002!

@ ~~\>~~ \>~~~

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**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotation-supposedly-from-caesar-all-over-the-web/127917/22 "2002-09-25T18:53:40Z")

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[Andrew Tobias](http://www.andrewtobias.com/newcolumns/020925.html) fell for this hook, line, and sinker:smack: . I sent him an email along with a [Snopes link](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/caesar.htm).

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**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotation-supposedly-from-caesar-all-over-the-web/127917/23 "2002-09-25T19:00:39Z")

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“Caesar” actually means “head of hair” or “hairy one” or something like that. It’s quite ironic because Julius and some of his descendents (Augustus through Nero) were bald or balding.

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**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quotation-supposedly-from-caesar-all-over-the-web/127917/24 "2002-09-25T19:28:27Z")

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The part that sounds most tinny to me is this:

“It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.”

That’s poorly said in English, and if I’m remembering my Latin, wouldn’t sound much better in that language.

The word “both” and the phrase “just as” both imply complimentary ideas. “Both” in this usage implies having characteristics in common: “She is both beautiful and graceful;” “Just as,” as generally used, means “in the manner of”: “I made dinner, just as I had the night before.”

But the ideas presented in the fake Caesar quote are contrasting, not complimentary: On the one hand, it emboldens the heart, _but_ (not “just as”) it also narrows the mind.

One does not use complimentary terms like “both” or “just as” to convey contrasting ideas. At least, not if one wants one’s sentence to sound authentic, as opposed to pompous and fake.

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