The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.
TacitusRead
Posterity will pay everyone their due.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Future generations will recognize and reward the contributions of individuals in their time.
This quote by Tacitus emphasizes the idea that the true value of one's actions and contributions will eventually be acknowledged and recompensed by future generations. It suggests that although individuals may not receive immediate recognition or reward for their efforts, history will invariably grant them the respect and gratitude they deserve, reaffirming the importance of legacy and the long-term impact of our actions.
Themes
PosterityLegacyRecognitionFutureContribution
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a speech about the importance of leaving a positive legacy.
More from Tacitus
All quotes βIn private enterprises men may advance or recede, whereas they who aim at empire have no alternative between the highest success and utter downfall.
TacitusRead
Great empires are not maintained by timidity.
TacitusRead
Things are not to be judged good or bad merely because the public think so.
TacitusRead
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.
TacitusRead
The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.
TacitusRead
Similar quotes
Treating an identity as an illness invites real illness to make a braver stand.
Andrew SolomonRead
We don't attach to people or to things; we attach to uninvestigated concepts that we believe to be true in the moment.
Byron KatieRead
A human life is a story told by God.
Hans Christian AndersenRead
The iron chain and the silken cord are both equally bonds.
Friedrich SchillerRead
I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere an intruder, never welcomed.
Gustav MahlerRead
How you approach the problem of suffering depends on how you approach life itself. There are only two ways. Either meaning is surrounded by matter, or matter is surrounded by meaning.
Peter KreeftRead