Tacitus Quotes
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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.
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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.
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Nature gives liberty even to dumb animals.
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The wicked find it easier to coalesce for seditious purposes than for concord in peace.
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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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Every great example of punishment has in it some injustice, but the suffering individual is compensated by the public good.
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By punishing men of talent we confirm their authority.
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Laws were most numerous when the commonwealth was most corrupt.
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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.
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For I deem it to be the chief function of history to rescue merit from oblivion, and to hold up before evil words and evil deeds the terror of the reprobation of posterity.
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Some might consider him as too fond of fame; for the desire for glory clings even to the best men longer than any other passion.
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Crime succeeds by sudden despatch; honest counsels gain vigor by delay.
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That cannot be safe which is not honourable.
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Power is more safely retained by cautious than by severe councils.
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In stirring up tumult and strife, the worst men can do the most, but peace and quiet cannot be established without virtue.
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So true is it that all transactions of preeminent importance are wrapt in doubt and obscurity; while some hold for certain facts the most precarious hearsays, others turn facts into falsehood; and both are exaggerated by posterity.
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Whatever is unknown is magnified.
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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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We are corrupted by good fortune.
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They terrify lest they should fear.
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Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
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By general consent, he would have been capable of ruling, had he not ruled.
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A bitter jest, when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it.
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In seasons of tumult and discord bad men have most power; mental and moral excellence require peace and quietness.