1973. The indicative is used with #quō# and a comparative in the
protasis of a comparative period, with #eō# or #hōc# and a comparative
as correlative (1393): as,
#quō dēlictum maius est, eō poena est tardior#, _Caec._ 7, _the greater
the sin is, the slower is the punishment_. The #eō# or #hōc# is
sometimes omitted: as, #quō plūrēs sumus, plūribus rēbus egēbimus#, L.
34, 34, 6, _the more numerous we are, the more things we shall need_. In
late writers, the comparative is sometimes omitted in the main clause,
very rarely in the subordinate clause. #quantō . . . tantō# are also
used like #quō . . . eō#: as, #quantō diūtius cōnsīderō, tantō mihī̆ rēs
vidētur obscūrior#, _DN._ 1, 60, _the longer I puzzle over it, the more
incomprehensible the question seems to me_. #quantō magis extergeō,
tenuius fit#, Pl. _R._ 1301, _the more I polish, the slimmer it gets_.
This form is sometimes used with #quisque# or #quis# of indefinite
persons, instead of the commoner #ut . . . ita# or #sīc# (1939): as,
#quō quisque est sollertior, hōc docet labōriōsius#, _RC._ 31, _the
brighter a man is, the more wearisome he finds teaching_. #quō quisque
est maior, magis est plācābilis īrae#, O. _Tr._ 3, 5, 31, _the greater
be the man, the easier ’tis his anger to appease_.