Tacitus Quotes

In stirring up tumult and strife, the worst men can do the most, but peace and quiet cannot be established without virtue.

The lust of fame is the last that a wise man shakes off.

We accomplish more by prudence than by force. [Lat., Plura consilio quam vi perficimus.]

Remedies are more tardy in their operation than diseases.

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.

The hatred of those who are near to us is most violent.

When a woman has lost her chastity she will shrink from nothing.

Whatever is unknown is magnified.

Nothing mortal is so unstable and subject to change as power which has no foundation.

Conspicuous by his absence.

All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.

Corruptisima republica plurimae leges.

Miseram pacem vel bello bene mutari. Even war is preferable to a shameful peace.

In all things there is a kind of law of cycles. [Lat., Rebus cunctis inest quidam velut orbis.]

Cassius and Brutus were the more distinguished for that very circumstance that their portraits were absent. [Lat., Praefulgebant Cassius atque Brutus eo ipso, quod effigies eorum non videbantur.]

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.

If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger. [Lat., Si cadere necesse est, occurendum discrimini.]

The love of fame is a love that even the wisest of men are reluctant to forgo.

Posterity gives to every man his true honor. [Lat., Suum cuique decus posteritas rependet.]

So obscure are the greatest events, as some take for granted any hearsay, whatever its source, others turn truth into falsehood, and both errors find encouragement with posterity.

Lust of power is the most flagrant of all the passions.

Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.

The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.

They terrify lest they should fear.

Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.

It is of eloquence as of a flame; it requires matter to feed it, and motion to excite it; and it brightens as it burns.

That cannot be safe which is not honourable.

Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.

Reckless adventure is the fool's hazard.

The gods are on the side of the stronger.

There are odious virtues; such as inflexible severity, and an integrity that accepts of no favor.

It is a characteristic of the human mind to hate the man one has injured.

The repose of nations cannot be secure without arms, armies cannot be maintained without pay, nor can the pay be produced without taxes

The desire of glory is the last infirmity cast off even by the wise.

When men of talents are punished, authority is strengthened. [Lat., Punitis ingeniis, gliscit auctoritas.]

It is the nature of the human disposition to hate him whom you have injured.

Even honor and virtue make enemies, condemning, as they do, their opposites by too close a contrast.

Power is more safely retained by cautious than by severe councils. [Lat., Potentiam cautis quam acribus consiliis tutius haberi.]

The task of history is to hold out for reprobation every evil word and deed, and to hold out for praise every great and noble word and deed.

Posterity allows to every man his true value and proper honours.

Falsehood avails itself of haste and uncertainty.

[That form of] eloquence, the foster-child of licence, which fools call liberty. [Lat., Eloquentia, alumna licentiae, quam stulti libertatem vocabant.]

We are corrupted by good fortune. [Lat., Felicitate corrumpimur.]

War will of itself discover and lay open the hidden and rankling wounds of the victorious party.

Rulers always hate and suspect the next in succession. [Lat., Suspectum semper invisumque dominantibus qui proximus destinaretur.]

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.

The powerful hold in deep remembrance an ill-timed pleasantry. [Lat., Facetiarum apud praepotentes in longum memoria est.]

Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.

The love of fame is the last weakness which even the wise resign.

Modest fame is not to be despised by the highest characters. [Lat., Modestiae fama neque summis mortalibus spernenda est.]