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As for myself, may the sweet Muses, as Virgil says, bear me away to their holy places where sacred streams do flow, beyond the reach of anxiety and care, and free from the obligation of performing each day some task that goes against the grain. May I no longer have anything to do with the mad racket and the hazards of the forum, or tremble as I try a fall with white-faced Fame. I do not want to be roused from sleep by the clatter of morning callers or by some breathless messenger from the palace; I do not care, in drawing my will, to give a money-pledge for its safe execution through anxiety as to what is to happen afterwards; I wish for no larger estate than I can leave to the heir of my own free choice. Some day or other the last hour will strike also for me, and my prayer is that my effigy may be set up beside my grave, not grim and scowling, but all smiles and garlands, and that no one shall seek to honour my memory either by a motion in the senate or by a petition to the Emperor.
-Tacitus
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Absence
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Greater things are believed of those who are absent.
-Tacitus
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Adversity
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Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable.
-Tacitus
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We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy, and more although abounding in wealth, who are wretched.
-Tacitus
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Age
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Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor.
-Tacitus
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Assassination
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A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.
-Tacitus
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Bravery
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Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards.
-Tacitus
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The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.
-Tacitus
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If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger.
-Tacitus
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Character
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Noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop.
-Tacitus
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Charisma
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Things forbidden have a secret charm.
-Tacitus
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City Life, Cities
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All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.
-Tacitus
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Criticism
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Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it.
-Tacitus
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Deception/Lying
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Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.
-Tacitus
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Empire
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To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace.
-Tacitus
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Fame
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The love of fame is the last weakness which even the wise resign.
-Tacitus
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Family
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The hatred of relatives is the most violent.
-Tacitus
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Fear
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Even the bravest men are frightened by sudden terrors.
-Tacitus
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Fortune
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It is less difficult to bear misfortunes than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.
-Tacitus
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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
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Guilt
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Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
-Tacitus
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Health
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All bodies are slow in growth but rapid in decay.
-Tacitus
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History
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Posterity gives every man his true value.
-Tacitus
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In all things there is a law of cycles.
-Tacitus
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Humility
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When a woman has lost her chastity she will shrink from nothing.
-Tacitus
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Books by and about Tacitus