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.
TACITUSZealous in the commencement, careless in the end.
More Tacitus Quotes
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Power won by crime no one ever yet turned to a good purpose.
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No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.
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Forethought and prudence are the proper qualities of a leader. [Lat., Ratio et consilium, propriae ducis artes.]
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The most detestable race of enemies are flatterers.
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Neglected, calumny soon expires, show that you are hurt, and you give it the appearance of truth.
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Keen at the start, but careless at the end.
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Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals.
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Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.
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[That form of] eloquence, the foster-child of licence, which fools call liberty. [Lat., Eloquentia, alumna licentiae, quam stulti libertatem vocabant.]
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Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.
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A man in power, once becoming obnoxious, his acts, good or bad, will work out his ruin.
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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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Modest fame is not to be despised by the highest characters. [Lat., Modestiae fama neque summis mortalibus spernenda est.]
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Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor.
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The injustice of a government is proportional to the number of its laws.
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Christianity is a pestilent superstition.
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It is a principle of human nature to hate those whom we have injured.
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Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.
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Even honor and virtue make enemies, condemning, as they do, their opposites by too close a contrast.
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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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More faults are often committed while we are trying to oblige than while we are giving offense.
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Bottling up his malice to be suppressed and brought out with increased violence.
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All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.
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So as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants.
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The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair through fear alone. [Lat., Fortes et strenuos etiam contra fortunam insistere, timidos et ignoros ad desperationem formidine properare.]
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Falsehood avails itself of haste and uncertainty.
TACITUS