A bitter jest, when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it.
TACITUSSeek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
More Tacitus Quotes
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Power won by crime no one ever yet turned to a good purpose.
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In all things there is a kind of law of cycles. [Lat., Rebus cunctis inest quidam velut orbis.]
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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.
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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.
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When the State is corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied.
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The most seditious is the most cowardly.
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The powerful hold in deep remembrance an ill-timed pleasantry. [Lat., Facetiarum apud praepotentes in longum memoria est.]
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Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.
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It is more reverent to believe in the works of the Deity than to comprehend them.
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Remedies are more tardy in their operation than diseases.
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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.
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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.
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Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.
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Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.
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We are corrupted by good fortune. [Lat., Felicitate corrumpimur.]
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I am my nearest neighbour.
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Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful.
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Eloquence wins its great and enduring fame quite as much from the benches of our opponents as from those of our friends.
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The Romans brought devestation, but they called it peace.
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The grove is the centre of their whole religion. It is regarded as the cradle of the race and the dwelling-place of the supreme god to whom all things are subject and obedient.
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None grieve so ostentatiously as those who rejoice most in heart. [Lat., Nulla jactantius moerent quam qui maxime laetantur.]
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The desire for glory clings even to the best men longer than any other passion.
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The persecution of genius fosters its influence.
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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.
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So as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants.
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One who is allowed to sin, sins less
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