I don't know what you and other men think of this life, but as for me, I'd rather not live at all than live to worship a man as ordinary as myself.

• A. Cassius
• B. Brutus
• C. Antony
• D. Portia

Answer: (A)

This line reveals a character who prizes personal liberty and resents any worship of power, showing a ruthless, conspiratorial mindset. In Julius Caesar, Cassius speaks with sharp cynicism about the notion of living under a ruler who he believes is merely ordinary in nature yet is treated as extraordinary. He frames true manhood as refusing to bow to tyranny, even to the point of preferring death to a life spent worshiping someone he sees as unworthy of that awe. This mindset drives his urgent plan to overturn Caesar and manipulate others into joining him.

That perspective helps distinguish him from Brutus, who is driven more by a sense of duty to Rome and a cautious concern about tyranny rather than a fierce contempt for leadership itself. Portia, Brutus’s wife, is focused on personal fears and loyalty rather than political ideology, and Antony, who remains loyal to Caesar, would not articulate such scorn for leadership. The line fits Cassius because it captures his radical distrust of power and his willingness to risk everything to restore freedom, rather than simply debating virtue or honor.