Tacitus quotes

It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.

They make a desert and call it peace.

Everything unknown is magnified. [Lat., Omne ignotum pro magnifico est.]

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

It is the rare fortune of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks.

If we must fall, we should boldly meet our fate.

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

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

Whatever is unknown is magnified.

Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin.

That cannot be safe which is not honourable.

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.

So as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants.

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.

Christianity is a pestilent superstition.

A desire to resist oppression is implanted in the nature of man.

Reason and calm judgment, the qualities specially belonging to a leader.

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

Flattery labors under the odious charge of servility.

They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.

Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable.

The gods are on the side of the stronger.

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

More faults are often committed while we are trying to oblige than while we are giving offense.

When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.

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

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

Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.

The unknown always passes for the marvellous.

The Romans brought devestation, but they called it peace.

People flatter us because they can depend upon our credulity.

Flatterers are the worst kind of enemies. [Lat., Pessimum genus inimicorum laudantes.]

An eminent reputation is as dangerous as a bad one.

He (Tiberius) was wont to mock at the arts of physicians, and at those who, after thirty years of age, needed counsel as to what was good or bad for their bodies.

Power won by crime no one ever yet turned to a good purpose.

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

The worst hatred is that of relatives.

Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.

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.

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.

A man in power, once becoming obnoxious, his acts, good or bad, will work out his ruin.

A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.

Remedies are more tardy in their operation than diseases.

Rumor is not always wrong

Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are repaid with hatred instead of gratitude.

If you would know who controls you see who you may not criticise.

A woman once fallen will shrink from no impropriety.

Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure

Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.

[The Jews have] an attitude of hostility and hatred towards all others.

Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it.

Great empires are not maintained by timidity.

Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.

The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

They terrify lest they should fear.

One who is allowed to sin, sins less

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.

An honorable death is better than a dishonorable life. [Lat., Honesta mors turpi vita potior.]

Such being the happiness of the times, that you may think as you wish, and speak as you think.

Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.

Cruelty is fed, not weakened, by tears.

I am my nearest neighbour.

This I regard as history's highest function, to let no worthy action be uncommemorated, and to hold out the reprobation of posterity as a terror to evil words and deeds.

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

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

Things are not to be judged good or bad merely because the public think so.

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

In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous.

Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful.

Keen at the start, but careless at the end.

A bad peace is even worse than war.

Auctor nominis eius Christus,Tiberio imperitante, per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum, supplicio affectus erat. Christ, the leader of the sect, had been put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius.

The lust for power, for dominating others, inflames the heart more than any other passion.

In all things there is a law of cycles.

Traitors are hated even by those whom they prefer.

The most seditious is the most cowardly.

The word liberty has been falsely used by persons who, being degenerately profligate in private life, and mischievous in public, had no hope left but in fomenting discord.

Things forbidden have a secret charm.

Posterity will pay everyone their due.

Necessity reforms the poor, and satiety reforms the rich.

No hatred is so bitter as that of near relations.

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

Augustus gradually increased his powers, taking over those of the senate, the executives and the laws. The aristocracy received wealth and position in proportion to their willingness to accept slavery. The state had been transformed, and the old Roman character gone for ever. Equality among citizens was completely abandoned. All now waited on the imperial command.

When the State is corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied.

Custom adapts itself to expediency.

Valor is the contempt of death and pain.

To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it.

The lust of dominion burns with a flame so fierce as to overpower all other affections of the human breast.

The hatred of relatives is the most violent.

In seasons of tumult and discord bad men have most power; mental and moral excellence require peace and quietness.

Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.

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

Who the first inhabitants of Britain were, whether natives or immigrants, remains obscure; one must remember we are dealing with barbarians.

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

Corruptisima republica plurimae leges.

The most detestable race of enemies are flatterers.

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

Every recreant who proved his timidity in the hour of danger, was afterwards boldest in words and tongue.

By punishing men of talent we confirm their authority.

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

In valor there is hope.

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

Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth.

The wicked find it easier to coalesce for seditious purposes than for concord in peace.

All bodies are slow in growth but rapid in decay.

Other men have acquired fame by industry, but this man by indolence.

It is found by experience that admirable laws and right precedents among the good have their origin in the misdeeds of others.

The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more and tolerated by all.

Following Emporer Nero's command, "Let the Christians be exterminated!:" . . . they [the Christians] were made the subjects of sport; they were covered with the hides of wild beasts and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights.

Power acquired by guilt was never used for a good purpose. [Lat., Imperium flagitio acquisitum nemo unquam bonis artibus exercuit.]

There was more courage in bearing trouble than in escaping from it; the brave and the energetic cling to hope, even in spite of fortune; the cowardly and the indolent are hurried by their fears,' said Plotius Firmus, Roman Praetorian Guard.

It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.

Adversity deprives us of our judgment.

None make a greater show of sorrow than those who are most delighted.

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

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.

The customs of the Jews are base and abominable and owe their persistence to their depravity. Jews are extremely loyal to one another, always ready to show compassion, but towards every other people they feel only hate and enimity. As a race (the Jews are not a race, because they have mingled with the other races to the point that they are only a people, not a race), they are prone to lust; among themselves nothing is unlawful.

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

Neglected, calumny soon expires, show that you are hurt, and you give it the appearance of truth.

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

Experience teaches. [Lat., Experientia docet.]

No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.

Be assured those will be thy worst enemies, not to whom thou hast done evil, but who have done evil to thee. And those will be thy best friends, not to whom thou hast done good, but who have done good to thee.

It is a part of the nature of man to resist compulsion.

We extol ancient things, regardless of our own times. [Lat., Vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.]