Tacitus Quotes

It was rather a cessation of war than a beginning of peace. [Lat., Bellum magis desierat, quam pax coeperat.]

Our magistrates discharge their duties best at the beginning; and fall off toward the end. [Lat., Initia magistratuum nostrorum meliora, ferme finis inclinat.]

Laws were most numerous when the commonwealth was most corrupt

Even for learned men, love of fame is the last thing to be given up.

By punishing men of talent we confirm their authority.

Eloquence wins its great and enduring fame quite as much from the benches of our opponents as from those of our friends.

All inconsiderate enterprises are impetuous at first, but soon lanquish. [Lat., Omnia inconsulti impetus coepta, initiis valida, spatio languescunt.]

The injustice of a government is proportional to the number of its laws.

A cowardly populace which will dare nothing beyond talk. [Lat., Vulgus ignavum et nihil ultra verba ausurum.]

No hatred is so bitter as that of near relations.

Experience teaches. [Lat., Experientia docet.]

Indeed, the crowning proof of their valour and their strength is that they keep up their superiority without harm to others.

None grieve so ostentatiously as those who rejoice most in heart. [Lat., Nulla jactantius moerent quam qui maxime laetantur.]

A bitter jest, when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it.

It is more reverent to believe in the works of the Deity than to comprehend them.

Legions and fleets are not such sure bulwarks of imperial power as a numerous family

Secure against the designs of men, secure against the malignity of the Gods, they have accomplished a thing of infinite difficulty; that to them nothing remains even to be wished.

Crime succeeds by sudden despatch; honest counsels gain vigor by delay.

Forethought and prudence are the proper qualities of a leader. [Lat., Ratio et consilium, propriae ducis artes.]

In private enterprises men may advance or recede, whereas they who aim at empire have no alternative between the highest success and utter downfall.

Once killing starts, it is difficult to draw the line.

In the struggle between those seeking power there is no middle course.

Bottling up his malice to be suppressed and brought out with increased violence.

Deos fortioribus adesse. The gods support those who are stronger.

No one in Germany laughs at vice, nor do they call it the fashion to corrupt and to be corrupted.

Necessity reforms the poor, and satiety reforms the rich.

Adversity deprives us of our judgment.

Bodies are slow of growth, but are rapid in their dissolution. [Lat., Corpora lente augescent, cito extinguuntur.]

The changeful change of circumstances. [Lat., Varia sors rerum.]

There can never be a complete confidence in a power which is excessive.

Kindness, so far as we can return it, is agreeable.

The love of dominion is the most engrossing passion.

By general consent, he would have been capable of ruling, had he not ruled.

The principal office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.

Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant. They make a wilderness and they call it peace.

The desire for glory clings even to the best men longer than any other passion.

Then there is the usual scene when lovers are excited with each other, quarrels, entreaties, reproaches, and then fondling reconcilement.

Every great example of punishment has in it some injustice, but the suffering individual is compensated by the public good.

The views of the multitude are neither bad nor good. [Lat., Neque mala, vel bona, quae vulgus putet.]

Zealous in the commencement, careless in the end.

All ancient history was written with a moral object; the ethical interest predominates almost to the exclusion of all others.

Yet the age was not so utterly destitute of virtues but that it produced some good examples. [Lat., Non tamen adeo virtutum sterile seculum, ut non et bona exempla prodiderit.]

You might believe a good man easily, a great man with pleasure. -Bonum virum facile crederes, magnum libenter

Tacitus has written an entire work on the manners of the Germans. This work is short, but it comes from the pen of Tacitus, who was always concise, because he saw everything at a glance.

A bad peace is worse than war.

The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.

Style like the human body is specially beautiful when the veins are not prominent and the bones cannot be counted.

The more corrupt the state the more laws.

Where they make a desert they call it peace.

Candour and generosity unless tempered by due moderation lead to ruin.