Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit aliquando necesse est, et qui modeste paret, videtur qui aliquando imperet dignus esse
“For he who commands well must at some time have obeyed, and he who obeys modestly seems worthy to command one day.”
Cicero, De Legibus 3
What does “Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit aliquando necesse est, et qui modeste paret, videtur qui aliquando imperet dignus esse” mean?
Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit aliquando necesse est, et qui modeste paret, videtur qui aliquando imperet dignus esse translates as “For he who commands well must at some time have obeyed, and he who obeys modestly seems worthy to command one day.”
Good leaders learn first how to follow, and good followers show they are ready to lead. Cicero sees obedience and command as two stages of the same civic education.
“Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit …” word by word
| Latin | English | Grammar |
|---|---|---|
| Nam | for | conjunction introducing an explanation |
| et | and (here: also) | conjunction |
| qui | he who | relative pronoun, nominative singular masculine; subject of imperat |
| bene | well | adverb |
| imperat | commands | third person singular present indicative active of impero, “I command” |
| paruerit | must have obeyed | third person singular future perfect indicative active of pareo, “I obey”; used with necesse est |
| aliquando | at some time | adverb |
| necesse | necessary | indeclinable adjective, used here with est |
| est | it is | third person singular present of sum, “I am”; “it is necessary that…” |
| et | and | conjunction |
| qui | he who | relative pronoun, nominative singular masculine; subject of paret |
| modeste | modestly | adverb, from modestus, “moderate, restrained” |
| paret | obeys | third person singular present indicative active of pareo, “I obey” |
| videtur | seems | third person singular present indicative passive of video, “I see”; passive form means “is seen, seems” |
| qui | who (that he) | relative pronoun, nominative singular masculine, introducing a clause of characteristic |
| aliquando | one day | adverb; here “at some future time” |
| imperet | should command | third person singular present subjunctive active of impero, “I command” |
| dignus | worthy | adjective, nominative singular masculine; agrees with the subject of videtur |
| esse | to be | present infinitive of sum, “I am” |
How to pronounce “Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit …”
The main differences are the v of videtur (w in Classical, v in Church), the c of necesse (hard k in Classical, ch in Church) and the gn of dignus (g-n in Classical, ny in Church). The stress falls on the same syllables in both systems.
The story behind it
The sentence comes from Cicero’s De Legibus (On the Laws), book 3, where he discusses magistrates and how rulers and the ruled relate to one another. Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator of the first century BC, wrote the work as a dialogue about an ideal legal order.
His point is that command and obedience belong together: the person who commands well has first learned to obey, and the person who obeys with restraint shows fitness to command later. Roman public life, with its yearly magistrates who returned to private life, made this idea very concrete.
Today the line is quoted in talks on leadership, in military and civic training, and in management writing as an old statement that good leaders begin as good followers.
How to use “Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit …”
Suited to a leadership course, a military academy or cadet programme, a mentoring speech, or an essay on authority and responsibility. It also works as a motto for any organisation where people move from following to leading.
- Latin
- Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit aliquando necesse est, et qui modeste paret, videtur qui aliquando imperet dignus esse
- English
- For he who commands well must at some time have obeyed, and he who obeys modestly seems worthy to command one day.
- Source
- Cicero, De Legibus 3
- Era
- Classical
- Theme
- Leadership
Common mistakes
- It is often cut down to a short slogan such as “to lead, first learn to obey”, which drops the second half about the person who obeys modestly.
- The verb paruerit is future perfect, not past tense: it means “will have obeyed”, so “must at some time have obeyed” is the natural English.
- The phrase “Nam et” is not “for and”: et here means “also”, so the sentence begins “For he also who…”.
- Do not confuse pareo (“I obey”) with pario (“I bring forth”) or pareo’s other sense “I appear”; here it clearly means “obey”.
Questions about “Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit …”
What does “Nam et qui bene imperat, paruerit aliquando necesse est” mean?
Whoever commands well must at some point have obeyed, and whoever obeys modestly seems worthy to command one day. Obeying and commanding are two stages of the same training.
Who said “Nam et qui bene imperat”?
It comes from Cicero, in De Legibus (On the Laws), book 3, in the passage on magistrates and the relation between rulers and the ruled.
How do you pronounce “Nam et qui bene imperat”?
In Classical Latin: nahm et kwee BEH-neh IM-peh-raht. In Church Latin the only change in these words is none; the sounds are the same, and differences appear later in the sentence.
Is this a good Latin quote for leadership?
Yes. It states that good leadership grows out of good following, which is why it is often used in leadership and military training.
More to explore
Translation and grammar checked by Latin Quoter · last reviewed November 2026
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