Skip to content

Hannibal Barca Quotes

20 quotes from Hannibal Barca — Carthaginian general considered one of history's greatest military commanders..

I will find a way, or I will make one.

Perseverance

The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.

Strategy

We will either find a way or we will make one. We will not be defeated.

Determination

In war, it is not the strongest that wins, but the one that is able to adapt.

Adaptability

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

Courage

No one can be a great general who is not also a great strategist.

Leadership

It is better to be bold than to be cautious in war.

Boldness

A wise general does not take risks; he knows the importance of his troops.

Wisdom

Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.

Victory

He who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.

Confidence

The art of war is to keep the enemy constantly in a state of uncertainty.

Strategy

An army without a strategy is like a ship without a captain.

Strategy

Of all that befell the Romans and Carthaginians, good or bad, the cause was one man and one mind — Hannibal.

Polybius, Histories, Book III

When word of the defeat reached Rome, panic gripped the city, and women flocked to temples to weep for their lost husbands, sons, and brothers.

Livy, Ab Urbe Condita

If it be true, as no one doubts, that the Roman people excelled all other nations in warlike merit, it is not to be disputed that Hannibal surpassed other commanders in ability as much as the Romans surpassed all other people in valour.

Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

My father Hamilcar, when I was a very little boy, being not more than nine years old, offered sacrifices at Carthage when he was going as commander into Spain. While this ceremony was being performed, he asked me whether I should like to go with him to the camp. As I willingly expressed my consent, he required me, taking hold of the altar, to swear that I would never be in friendship with the Romans.

Hannibal Barca, as recorded by Cornelius Nepos

So great and wonderful is the influence of a Man, and a mind duly fitted by original constitution for any undertaking within the reach of human powers.

Polybius, Histories, Book IX

There lies the fate of Carthage.

Hannibal Barca, upon seeing his brother Hasdrubal's severed head (reported by Livy)

You know how to win battles, Hannibal, but you do not know how to use your victories.

Maharbal to Hannibal, after the Battle of Cannae (reported by Livy)

He so cherished in his mind the hatred which his father had borne the Romans, and which was left him, as it were, by bequest, that he laid down his life before he would abate it.

Cornelius Nepos, Life of Hannibal

Continue exploring