Publius Cornelius Tacitus c.56 - c.177 AD, Roman Historian

"They make a wilderness and call it peace."

"It is part of human nature to hate the man you have hurt."

"Sine ira et studio" (With neither anger nor partiality)

"Elogantiae arbiter" (The arbiter of taste)

"Deos fortioribus adesse." (The gods are on the side of the stronger.)

Greater things are believed of those who are absent.

Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable.

We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy, and more although abounding in wealth, who are wretched.

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.

Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it.

Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor.

A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.

Custom adapts itself to expediency.

Things forbidden have a secret charm.

All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.

If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger.

The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.

In all things there is a law of cycles.

To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.

The love of fame is the last weakness which even the wise resign.

The hatred of relatives is the most violent.

Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.

Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.

It is a weakness of your human nature to hate those whom you have wronged.

All bodies are slow in growth but rapid in decay.

Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.

In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous.

The more corrupt the state, the more laws.

No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.

All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may be pursued with great vigor at first, but are sure to collapse in the end.

It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.

Prosperity is the measure or touchstone of virtue, for it is less difficult to bear misfortune than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.

Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin.

When a woman has lost her chastity she will shrink from nothing.

Things are not to be judged good or bad merely because the public think so.

Posterity will pay everyone their due.

They make a wilderness and call it peace.

Posterity gives every man his true value.

Forbidden things have a secret charm.

The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

So, as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants.

The repose of nations cannot be secure without arms. Armies cannot be maintained without pay, nor can the pay be produced without taxes.

Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.