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Tacitus

Tacitus (circa AD 56 - circa AD 120)

Roman historian
  • "Abuse, if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated you will be thought to have deserved it."
  • "The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government."
    • Variant: "The more corrupt the state, the more laws."
  • "They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name Empire, and where they make a wasteland, they call it peace."
    • Variant: "The Romans make a desert, and they call it peace." ("atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant." - Agricola, chapter 30)
  • "The gods favor the strong."
  • "Liberty is given by nature even to mute animals."
  • "Great empires are not maintained by timidity."
  • "The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise."

Last updated: 10-26-2005 03:52:15