Inveniam viam

Common card · No. 229744

"Aut inveniam viam aut faciam" (or "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam") is Latin for "I shall either find a way or make one". The first word "aut" may be omitted, corresponding to omitting the English word "either" from the translation. The phrase has been spuriously attributed to Carthaginian General Hannibal, in response to his generals' statement that it was impossible to cross the Alps by elephant, during the Second Punic War in 218 BC. However there is no ancient source material for this statement. The sentence appears in the tragedy of Seneca, spoken by Amphitryon about Hercules' return from the underworld to Megara. Here in Hercules Furens (Act II, Scene 1, line 276) we find the whole sentence, in third person: "inveniet viam, aut faciet." It has been used as a motto for instance by Francis Bacon as well as Robert Peary. It has remained popular in social, educational and military organizations. In first person plural, the quote is written on an iron arch over the class of 1893 memorial...

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