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Who really said it

They can because they think they can

Written by Virgil 70–19 BC · Roman poet, author of the Aeneid
Verified Free to reuse

From Virgil’s Aeneid, Book V (line 231), describing the boat race at the funeral games of Anchises: “hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur.” The exact English wording is John Conington’s 1866 verse translation ↗ — a legitimate rendering, though a loose one: the Latin videntur means ‘they seem’ or ‘they appear (able),’ not ‘they think.’

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“They can because they think they can” They can because they think they can. —Virgil, Aeneid V.231 (trans. John Conington, 1866)

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Evoking the world of Virgil — Roman poet, author of the Aeneid. Theme: "They can because they think they can". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

The source

Work
Aeneid, Book V (line 231)
Latin
“possunt, quia posse videntur”
Translation
John Conington, verse, 1866
Composed
c. 29–19 BC

Those blush to lose a conquering game, / And fain would peril life for fame: / These bring success their zeal to fan; / They can because they think they can. Aeneid V.231

Conington’s 1866 verse rendering of Aeneid V.229–231. The famous one-liner translates the final half-line, “possunt, quia posse videntur.”

Conington’s 1866 Aeneid, Book V (Wikisource)

How we traced it

Public domain

The exact English wording is John Conington’s 1866 verse translation, first published well before 1931 and long out of copyright; the underlying Latin is ancient and public domain. Both are freely reproduced on Wikisource ↗.

This reflects the original work, which is public domain. If your exact English wording comes from a specific modern translation, that translation may itself still be under copyright — check the edition you quote.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Real Virgil, looser English

The attribution to Virgil is correct — this really is a line of the Aeneid. The catch is the English: the crisp motivational one-liner is a specific translator’s interpretive phrasing, not a literal rendering of the Latin, and it is almost always quoted without that context.

John Conington (1866) translation, not Virgil’s words

The exact English ‘They can because they think they can’ is Conington’s Victorian verse rendering, confirmed on Wikisource ↗. Virgil wrote Latin; the English belongs to his translator.

‘think’ vs. ‘seem’ loose rendering

The Latin verb videntur means ‘they seem’ or ‘they appear (able)’ — a more literal reading is ‘they can because they seem able,’ as the Dickinson commentary ↗ glosses. Conington’s ‘think’ shifts the emphasis from outward appearance to inner belief.

John Dryden (1697) different English

The same half-line has been Englished many ways; Dryden’s famous 1697 version reads ‘For they can conquer, who believe they can,’ per the WIST record ↗. No single ‘official’ wording exists.

Genuinely Virgil (Aeneid V.231), but the famous English sentence is John Conington’s 1866 translation ↗ — a legitimate rendering that reads ‘think’ where the Latin says ‘seem.’

Context

Why it endures

The line comes not from a battlefield or a philosopher’s treatise but from a boat race. In Book V of the Aeneid, the crews competing at the funeral games of Anchises are trailing, and Virgil observes that success itself feeds them: they can, because they seem able to. It is a compact psychological insight into momentum and self-belief.

Stripped of its nautical setting and smoothed into ‘They can because they think they can,’ the half-line became a staple of motivational posters, coaching talks, and self-help books — usually with no hint that the memorable English is a Victorian translator’s art laid over Virgil’s Latin.

Success feeds them: they can, because they seem able to.

The Latin, literally

Hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur — ‘Success nourishes them: they are able, because they appear (to themselves and others) to be able.’ The verb videntur is the passive of videre, ‘to see’ — hence ‘are seen / seem / appear,’ not ‘think.’

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Success Hope

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Aeneid V.225–243 (Latin + commentary)dcc.dickinson.edu

The Latin text of the passage with vocabulary and notes, confirming line 231 ‘possunt, quia posse videntur.’
Aeneid, Book V (Conington 1866)en.wikisource.org

Full public-domain text of Conington’s verse translation containing the exact English wording.
Virgil — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Credits ‘They can because they think they can’ to Aeneid V.231, tr. John Conington.
Aeneid V.229ff, translation recordwist.info

Side-by-side of multiple translations (Dryden 1697, Conington 1866, Humphries 1951, Kline 2002, Fagles 2006) of the line.
Virgilen.wikipedia.org

Biography of Publius Vergilius Maro, author of the Aeneid.

The true author

About Virgil

Virgil

70–19 BC · Roman poet, author of the Aeneid

Publius Vergilius Maro (70–19 BC) was Rome’s foremost poet, author of the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. The line lives in Book V, in the ship race at the funeral games for Aeneas’s father Anchises, where the momentum of belief carries the trailing crews forward. Virgil left the Aeneid unfinished at his death and reportedly asked that it be burned; the emperor Augustus overruled him.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Virgil, Aeneid, Book V, line 231 (“hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur”), trans. John Conington (1866).

MLA (9th ed.)

Virgil. Aeneid. Book 5, translated by John Conington, 1866.

APA (7th ed.)

Virgil. (1866). Aeneid (Book 5) (J. Conington, Trans.). (Original work published c. 19 BCE)

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘They can because they think they can’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/they-can-because-they-think-they-can/

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