263 Quotes by Tacitus

They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.

A bad peace is worse than war.

Great empires are not maintained by timidity.

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

Ništa na svijetu nije tako nepostojano i prolazno kao vlast jednog čovjeka koja ne počiva na snazi njegove ličnosti.

Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful.

Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.

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.

If you would know who controls you see who you may not criticise.