A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.
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It is no great art to say something briefly when, like Tacitus, one has something to say; when one has nothing to say, however, and none the less writes a whole book and makes truth into a liar -- that I call an achievement.
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To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it
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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
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In stirring up tumult and strife, the worst men can do the most, but peace and quiet cannot be established without virtue.
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He had a certain frankness and generosity, qualities indeed which turn to a man's ruin, unless tempered with discretion.
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In times of tumult and discord bad men have the most power mental and moral excellence require peace and quiteness.
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The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.
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It is found by experience that admirable laws and right precedents among the good have their origin in the misdeeds of others.
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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
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Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth; when perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth any cause to wonder that he does not hear it
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It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.
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Greater things are believed of those who are absent.
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No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor
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Keen at the start, but careless at the end.
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I am my nearest neighbour.
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Rumor is not always wrong. - from Life of Agricola
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There can never be a complete confidence in a power which is excessive.
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It is the rare fortuene of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks.
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Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty
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All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome.
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It is easier for a republican form of government to be applauded than realized
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It is only necessary to make war with five things: with the maladies of the body, with the ignorances of the mind, with the passions of the body, with the seditions of the city, with the discords of families
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They make a wilderness and call it peace. (Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant.)
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No hatred is so bitter as that of near relations.
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It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured
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Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavor.
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The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.
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The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise
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To plunder, butcher, steal, these things they misname empire: they make a desolation and they call it peace.
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