Stoic Quotes from Joseph Addison’s Cato, a Tragedy (1712)

If there’s a Power above us
(And that there is, all Nature cries aloud
Through all her works),
He must delight in virtue;
And that which He delights in must be happy. (Cato)

‘Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we’ll do more, Sempronius – we’ll deserve it. (Portius)

Better to die ten thousand thousand deaths
Than wound my honour. (Juba)

Not all the pomp and majesty of Rome
Can raise her senate more than Cato’s presence.
His virtues render our assembly awful,
They strike with something like religious fear,
And make even Caesar tremble at the head
Of armies flush’d with conquest. (Sempronius)

That Juba may deserve thy pious cares [Marcia], I’ll gaze for ever on [Cato] thy godlike father,
Transplanting one by one, into my life,
His bright perfections, till I shine like him. (Juba)