Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Tacitus (Roman Orator, Historian)

Tacitus (c.55–120 CE,) fully Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, was a Roman orator and public official. He was perhaps the most celebrated of Roman historians and one of the most excellent prose stylists who wrote in the Latin language.

Facts about Tacitus’s life are scarce. Probably born in Narbonese Gaul, he studied rhetoric in Rome, rose to distinction as a pleader at the Roman Bar. In a life that spanned the reigns of the Flavian emperors and Trajan and Hadrian, Tacitus played a part in the public life of Rome. In 77 CE, Tacitus married the daughter of Agricola, the conqueror of Britain. Tacitus’s biography of his father-in-law survives.

Among Tacitus’s works is the Germania, which describes the Germanic tribes. It is a source for much of what we know of Germanic and continental Celtic mythologies.

Tacitus’s notable works include the twelve-volume Historiae (‘Histories,’) covering 69–96 CE, and the later Annales (‘Annals,’) covering 14–68 CE. Even though the Annals and Histories exist only in incomplete form, they suggest a profound pessimism about the course of Roman history ever since the end of the Roman Republic.

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

When a woman has lost her chastity she will shrink from nothing.
Tacitus
Topics: Modesty, Humility

So, as you go into battle, remember your ancestors and remember your descendants.
Tacitus
Topics: The Military

The lust of fame is the last that a wise man shakes off.
Tacitus
Topics: Fame

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

Love of fame is the last thing even learned men can bear to be parted from.
Tacitus
Topics: Fame

Forbidden things have a secret charm.
Tacitus
Topics: Charm, Value

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

The hatred of relatives is the most violent.
Tacitus
Topics: Family

Pliability and liberality, when not restrained within due bounds, must ever turn to the ruin of their possessor.
Tacitus
Topics: Excess

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.
Tacitus
Topics: Leaders, Leadership

The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
Tacitus
Topics: Justice

Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth; when perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has any one who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.
Tacitus
Topics: Truth, Opportunity

Posterity will pay everyone their due.
Tacitus
Topics: Past, The Past

The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.
Tacitus
Topics: Bravery, Courage

Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.
Tacitus
Topics: Inheritance

It is human nature to hate him whom you have injured.
Tacitus
Topics: Hatred

It is a weakness of your human nature to hate those whom you have wronged.
Tacitus
Topics: Insults, Hatred

Greater things are believed of those who are absent.
Tacitus
Topics: Absence

There will be vice as long as there are men.
Tacitus
Topics: Vice

Things forbidden have a secret charm.
Tacitus
Topics: Charm, Temptation

Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin.
Tacitus
Topics: Moderation

The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.
Tacitus
Topics: Security

Neglected calumny soon expires; show that you are hurt, and you give it the appearance of truth.
Tacitus

The more corrupt the state, the more laws.
Tacitus
Topics: Lawyers, Law

Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.
Tacitus
Topics: Character

If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger.
Tacitus
Topics: Danger, Bravery, Courage

Necessity reforms the poor, and satiety the rich.
Tacitus
Topics: Reform

No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.
Tacitus
Topics: Leadership, Leaders

Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
Tacitus
Topics: Guilt

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