Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
What is today supported by precedents will hereafter become a precedent.
Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.
It is a characteristic of the human mind to hate the man one has injured.
The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more and tolerated by all.
Things are not to be judged good or bad merely because the public think so.
Love of fame is the last thing even learned men can bear to be parted from.
By general consent, he would have been capable of ruling, had he not ruled.
It is the nature of the human disposition to hate him whom you have injured.
The love of fame is a love that even the wisest of men are reluctant to forgo.
Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.
When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.
The desire for glory clings even to the best men longer than any other passion.
So as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants.
It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.
Bottling up his malice to be suppressed and brought out with increased violence.
Miseram pacem vel bello bene mutari. Even war is preferable to a shameful peace.
A bitter jest, when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it.
To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it.
It is more reverent to believe in the works of the Deity than to comprehend them.
Perdomita Britannia et statim omissa. Britain was conquered and immediately lost.
Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant. They make a wilderness and they call it peace.
Legions and fleets are not such sure bulwarks of imperial power as a numerous family
Nothing mortal is so unstable and subject to change as power which has no foundation.
Flatterers are the worst kind of enemies. [Lat., Pessimum genus inimicorum laudantes.]
The wicked find it easier to coalesce for seditious purposes than for concord in peace.
A man in power, once becoming obnoxious, his acts, good or bad, will work out his ruin.
Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.
We accomplish more by prudence than by force. [Lat., Plura consilio quam vi perficimus.]
The lust for power, for dominating others, inflames the heart more than any other passion.
Posterity gives to every man his true honor. [Lat., Suum cuique decus posteritas rependet.]
Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.
Such being the happiness of the times, that you may think as you wish, and speak as you think.
An honorable death is better than a dishonorable life. [Lat., Honesta mors turpi vita potior.]
It is the rare fortune of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks.
More faults are often committed while we are trying to oblige than while we are giving offense.
In all things there is a kind of law of cycles. [Lat., Rebus cunctis inest quidam velut orbis.]
War will of itself discover and lay open the hidden and rankling wounds of the victorious party.
Neglected, calumny soon expires, show that you are hurt, and you give it the appearance of truth.
No one in Germany laughs at vice, nor do they call it the fashion to corrupt and to be corrupted.
There are odious virtues; such as inflexible severity, and an integrity that accepts of no favor.
We extol ancient things, regardless of our own times. [Lat., Vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.]
Even honor and virtue make enemies, condemning, as they do, their opposites by too close a contrast.
The views of the multitude are neither bad nor good. [Lat., Neque mala, vel bona, quae vulgus putet.]
None mourn more ostentatiously over the death of Germanicus than those who most rejoice at it [a death].
If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger. [Lat., Si cadere necesse est, occurendum discrimini.]
Every recreant who proved his timidity in the hour of danger, was afterwards boldest in words and tongue.
Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure
When men of talents are punished, authority is strengthened. [Lat., Punitis ingeniis, gliscit auctoritas.]
The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.