The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.
The hatred of those who are near to us is most violent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that people we are close to can harbor intense feelings of hatred towards us.
In this quote, Tacitus reflects on the complexity of human relationships, particularly emphasizing that those who are closest to us can sometimes experience the most intense emotions, including hatred. This highlights the idea that proximity and familiarity can breed not just love and affection, but also resentment and conflict, especially when expectations or boundaries are violated. The statement serves as a reminder of the delicate balance in close relationships and the potential for deep emotional turmoil.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about familial conflicts, one might say this quote to highlight the struggles within family dynamics.
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.
Great empires are not maintained by timidity.
Things are not to be judged good or bad merely because the public think so.
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.
The brave and bold persist even against fortune; the timid and cowardly rush to despair though fear alone.
Similar quotes
{Mrs. March to Jo} You are too much alike and too fond of freedom, not to mention hot tempers and strong wills, to get on happily together, in a relation which needs infinite patience and forbearance, as well as love.
Until you have become really, in actual fact, as brother to everyone, brotherhood will not come to pass.
There is no pain on this earth like seeing the same woman look at another man the way she once looked at you.
Feminine intuition? Is that what you wanted the robot for? You men. Faced with a woman reaching a correct conclusion and unable to accept the fact that she is your equal or superior in intelligence, you invent something called feminine intuition.
It's difficult to seek other people's love. It's deadly. In seeking it you lose what is genuine. This is the prison we create for ourselves as we seek what we already have.
Throughout our history each and every generation has expanded upon the freedoms won by their parents and grandparents. Each and every generation has removed some of the barriers to full participation in the American dream. And the next great barrier standing before our generation is the prohibition on marriage for same-sex couples