It is always easy enough to take up arms, but very difficult to lay them down; the commencement and the termination of war are notnecessarily in the same hands; even a coward may begin, but the end comes only when the victors are willing.
SallustSmall endeavours obtain strength by unity of action: the most powerful are broken down by discord.
SallustAs 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.
SallustIt is not only spirits who punish the evil, the soul brings itself to judgment: and also it is not right for those who endure for ever to attain everything in a short time: and also, there is need of human virtue. If punishment followed instantly upon sin, men would act justly from fear and have no virtue.
Sallust