Famous Tacitus Quotations

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"The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone."
by Publius Tacitus
"It is easier for a republican form of government to be applauded than realized"
by Publius Tacitus
"Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor."
by Tacitus
"It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured."
by Tacitus
"A bad peace is even worse than war."
by Tacitus
"A bad peace is even worse than war"
by Tacitus
"A desire to resist oppression is implanted in the nature of man"
by Tacitus
"Abuse, if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it"
by Tacitus
"All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may be pursued with great vigor at first, but are sure to collapse in the end"
by Tacitus
"Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth; when perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth any cause to wonder that he does not hear it"
by Tacitus
"Greater things are believed of those who are absent"
by Tacitus
"He had a certain frankness and generosity, qualities indeed which turn to a man's ruin, unless tempered with discretion."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"He that fights and runs away, may turn and fight another day; but he that is in battle slain, will never rise to fight again"
by Tacitus
"I am my nearest neighbour."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"In stirring up tumult and strife, the worst men can do the most, but peace and quiet cannot be established without virtue."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"In times of tumult and discord bad men have the most power mental and moral excellence require peace and quiteness."
by Publius Cornelius Tacitus
"It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured"
by Tacitus
"It is found by experience that admirable laws and right precedents among the good have their origin in the misdeeds of others."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar - that I call an achievement."
by Horace
"It is human nature to hate him whom you have injured."
by Tacitus
"It is only necessary to make war with five things: with the maladies of the body, with the ignorances of the mind, with the passions of the body, with the seditions of the city, with the discords of families"
by Tacitus
"It is the rare fortuene of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"Keen at the start, but careless at the end."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"Love of fame is the last thing even learned men can bear to be parted from"
by Tacitus
"Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable"
by Tacitus
"No hatred is so bitter as that of near relations."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop"
by Tacitus
"No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor"
by Tacitus
"Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor"
by Tacitus
"Prosperity is the measure or touchstone of virtue, for it is less difficult to bear misfortune than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure"
by Tacitus
"Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader."
by Tacitus
"Rumor is not always wrong. - from Life of Agricola"
by Publius Cornelius Tacitus
"That cannot be safe which is not honourable."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise"
by Tacitus
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."
by Tacitus
"There can never be a complete confidence in a power which is excessive."
by Cornelius Tacitus
"Those will be thy best friends, not to whom thou hast done good, but who have done good to thee"
by Tacitus
"To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it"
by Tacitus
"Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty"
by Tacitus
"Greater things are believed of those who are absent."
by Tacitus
"A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all."
by Tacitus
"It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar -- that I call an achievement."
by G. C. (Georg Christoph) Lichtenberg
"Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop."
by Tacitus
"All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome."
by Tacitus
"Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty."
by Tacitus
"Prosperity is the measure or touchstone of virtue, for it is less difficult to bear misfortune than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure."
by Tacitus
"It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure."
by Tacitus
"All bodies are slow in growth but rapid in decay."
by Tacitus
"The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government."
by Tacitus (100 AD)
"In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous."
by Tacitus
"So, as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants."
by Tacitus
"Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin."
by Tacitus
"Posterity will pay everyone their due."
by Tacitus
"The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise."
by Tacitus
"They make a wilderness and call it peace. (Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant.)"
by Tacitus
"To plunder, butcher, steal, these things they misname empire: they make a desolation and they call it peace."
by Tacitus


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