It is always easy enough to take up arms, but very difficult to lay them down; the commencement and the termination of war are not necessarily in the same hands; even a coward may begin, but the end comes only when the victors are willing.
SALLUSTHe that will be angry for anything will be angry for nothing.
More Sallust Quotes
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In battle it is the cowards who run the most risk; bravery is a rampart of defense.
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Ambition breaks the ties of blood, and forgets the obligations of gratitude.
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It is better to use fair means and fail, than foul and conquer.
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Not by vows nor by womanish prayers is the help of the gods obtained; success comes through vigilance, energy, wise counsel.
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Enough words, little wisdom.
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Since we have received everything from the Gods, and it is right to pay the giver some tithe of his gifts, we pay such a tithe of possessions in votive offering, of bodies in gifts of (hair and) adornment, and of life in sacrifices.
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Distinguished ancestors shed a powerful light on their descendants, and forbid the concealment either of their merits or of their demerits.
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In my own case, who have spent my whole life in the practice of virtue, right conduct from habitual has become natural.
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All men who would surpass the other animals should do their best not to pass through life silently like the beasts whom nature made prone, obedient to their bellies.
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A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means.
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Neither the army nor the treasury, but friends, are the true supports of the throne; for friends cannot be collected by force of arms, nor purchased with money; they are the offspring of kindness and sincerity.
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In my opinion it is less shameful for a king to be overcome by force of arms than by bribery.
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No mortal man has ever served at the same time his passions and his best interests.
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Fortune rules in all things, and advances and depresses things more out of her own will than right and justice.
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To hope for safety in flight, when you have turned away from the enemy the arms by which the body is defended, is indeed madness. In battle those who are most afraid are always in most danger; but courage is equivalent to rampart.
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The glory of riches and of beauty is frail and transitory; virtue remains bright and eternal.
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Everything that rises sets, and everything that grows, grows old.
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Get good counsel before you begin; and when you have decided, act promptly.
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Greedy for the property of others, extravagant with his own
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Those most moved to tears by every word of a preacher are generally weak and a rascal when the feelings evaporate.
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By union the smallest states thrive. By discord the greatest are destroyed.
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The man who is roused neither by glory nor by danger it is in vain to exhort; terror closes the ears of the mind.
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It is a law of human nature that in victory even the coward may boast of his prowess, while defeat injures the reputation even of the brave.
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Among intellectual pursuits, one of the most useful is the recording of past events.
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To have the same desires and the same aversion is assuredly a firm bond of friendship.
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All who consult on doubtful matters, should be void of hatred, friendship, anger, and pity.
SALLUST