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

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

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.
Tacitus

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

The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.
Tacitus

Things forbidden have a secret charm.
Tacitus

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

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

To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it.
Tacitus

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

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

Victor and vanquished never unite in substantial agreement.
Tacitus

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

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

When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad.
Tacitus

When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied.
Tacitus