Top 80 Sallust Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Each man the architect of his own fate.”

— Sallust

2. “Fame is the shadow of passion standing in the light.”

— Sallust

3. “Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.”

— Sallust

4. “Harmony makes small things grow; lack of it makes great things decay.”

— Sallust

5. “Necessity makes even the timid brave.”

— Sallust

6. “The renown which riches or beauty confer is fleeting and frail mental excellence is a splendid and lasting possession.”

— Sallust

7. “It is always easy to begin a war, but very difficult to stop one.”

— Sallust

8. “Only a few prefer liberty- the majority seek nothing more than fair masters.”

— Sallust

9. “A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means.”

— Sallust

10. “It is better to use fair means and fail, than foul and conquer.”

— Sallust

11. “Greedy for the property of others, extravagant with his own.”

— Sallust

12. “Just to stir things up seemed a great reward in itself.”

— Sallust

13. “To like and dislike the same things that is indeed true friendship.”

— Sallust

14. “Everything that rises sets, and everything that grows, grows old.”

— Sallust

15. “Those most moved to tears by every word of a preacher are generally weak and a rascal when the feelings evaporate.”

— Sallust

16. “But few prize honour more than money.”

— Sallust

17. “The fame that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; intellectual superiority is a possession glorious and eternal.”

— Sallust

18. “If the transmigration of a soul takes place into a rational being, it simply becomes the soul of that body. But if the soul migrates into a brute beast, it follows the body outside, as a guardian spirit follows a man. For there could never be a rational soul in an irrational being.”

— Sallust

19. “They envy the distinction I have won; let them therefore, envy my toils, my honesty, and the methods by which I gained it.”

— Sallust

20. “Do as much as possible, and talk of yourself as little as possible.”

— Sallust

21. “In my opinion it is less shameful for a king to be overcome by force of arms than by bribery.”

— Sallust

22. “By union the smallest states thrive. By discord the greatest are destroyed.”

— Sallust

23. “In battle it is the cowards who run the most risk; bravery is a rampart of defense.”

— Sallust

24. “The Gods being good and making all things, there is no positive evil, it only comes by absence of good; just as darkness itself does not exist, but only comes about by absence of light.”

— Sallust

25. “Every bad precedent originated as a justifiable measure.”

— Sallust

26. “To someone seeking power, the poorest man is the most useful.”

— Sallust

27. “Deliberate before you begin; but, having carefully done so, execute with vigour.”

— Sallust

28. “It is the nature of ambition to make men liars and cheats, to hide the truth in their breasts, and show, like jugglers, another thing in their mouths, to cut all friendships and enmities to the measure of their own interest, and to make a good countenance without the help of good will.”

— Sallust

29. “Ambition drove many men to become false; to have one thought locked in the breast, another ready on the tongue.”

— Sallust

30. “Ambition breaks the ties of blood, and forgets the obligations of gratitude.”

— Sallust

31. “Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.”

— Sallust

32. “Small endeavours obtain strength by unity of action: the most powerful are broken down by discord.”

— Sallust

33. “Everything destroyed is either resolved into the elements from which it came, or else vanishes into not-being. If things are resolved into the elements from which they came, then there will be others: else how did they come into being at all?”

— Sallust

34. “Small communities grow great through harmony, great ones fall to pieces through discord.”

— Sallust

35. “Poor Britons, there is some good in them after all – they produced an oyster.”

— Sallust

36. “Prosperity tries the souls even of the wise.”

— Sallust

37. “It is a law of human nature that in victory even the coward may boast of his prowess, while defeat injures the reputation even of the brave.”

— Sallust

38. “For harmony makes small states great, while discord undermines the mightiest empires.”

— Sallust

39. “To hope for safety in flight, when you have turned away from the enemy the arms by which the body is defended, is indeed madness. In battle those who are most afraid are always in most danger; but courage is equivalent to rampart.”

— Sallust

40. “As the blessings of health and fortune have a beginning, so they must also find an end. Everything rises but to fall, and increases but to decay.”

— Sallust

41. “Get good counsel before you begin; and when you have decided, act promptly.”

— Sallust

42. “Kings are more prone to mistrust the good than the bad; and they are always afraid of the virtues of others.”

— Sallust

43. “All persons who are enthusiastic that they should transcend the other animals ought to strive with the utmost effort not to pass through a life of silence, like cattle, which nature has fashioned to be prone and obedient to their stomachs.”

— Sallust

44. “Before you act consider; when you have considered, tis fully time to act.”

— Sallust

45. “A small state increases by concord; the greatest falls gradually to ruin by dissension.”

— Sallust

46. “All who consult on doubtful matters, should be void of hatred, friendship, anger, and pity.”

— Sallust

47. “Among intellectual pursuits, one of the most useful is the recording of past events.”

— Sallust

48. “Fortune rules in all things, and advances and depresses things more out of her own will than right and justice.”

— Sallust

49. “No grief reaches the dead.”

— Sallust

50. “All those who offer an opinion on any doubtful point should first clear their minds of every sentiment of dislike, friendship, anger or pity.”

— Sallust