"I think Sallust inferior to both Livy and Tacitus in the talents of an historian. There is a lecturing, declaiming, tone about him which would suit a teacher of rhetoric better than a statesman engaged in recording great events. Still, he is a good writer; and the view which he here gives of the state of parties at Rome, and the frightful demoralization of the aristocracy, is full of interest."

"Let the prince be ever mindful of Sallust's teaching that neither soldiers nor money can defend a king but only friends won by good deeds, merit, and honesty."

"The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid. I hope my passion for Rome's past has not impaired my judgement, for I do honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer than ours or richer in good citizens and noble deeds..."

"There has been no one since Livy who has made the trumpet utter its terrible sound in military operations."

"[I translated Livy to propose] the imitation of every true virtue of the Roman people."

"By semblance advertisements shall a noble heart be trained to delight in histories. And then, according to the counsel of Quintilian, it is best that he begin with Titus Livius, not only for his elegance of writing, which floweth in him like a fountain of sweet milk: but also forasmuch as by reading that author he may know how the most noble city of Rome, of a small and poor beginning, by prowess and virtue little and little came to the empire and dominion of all the world."

"He explained the organization (gli ordini) and described the methods of government of the Roman Republic better than anyone else."

"[Those who have specialised in the study of Livy] agree in this, that the purpose of that author in writing his History was to give the world an account of a republic which was very well ordered."

"The style must be always plain and open, yet sometime higher and lower, as matters do rise and fall: for if proper and natural words, in well-joined sentences, do lively express the matter, be it troublesome, quiet, angry, or pleasant, a man shall think not to be reading, but present in doing of the same. And herein Livy, of all other in any tongue, by mine opinion, carrieth away the praise."

"Is demum vir erit, cuius animum neque prosperae res flatu suo efferent nec adversae infringent"

"A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself."

"There is an old saying which, from its truth, has become proverbial, that friendships should be immortal, enmities mortal."

"The sun has not yet set for all time."

"There is nothing that is more often clothed in an attractive garb than a false creed."

"Such impetuous schemes and boldness are at first sight alluring, but are difficult to handle, and in the result disastrous."

"He was always before men’s eyes; a course of action which, by increasing our familiarity with great men, diminishes our respect for them."

"The most honorable, as well as the safest course, is to rely entirely upon valour."

"For he considered that, in many cases, but especially in war, mere appearances have had all the effect of realities; and that a person, under a firm persuasion that he can command resources, virtually has them; that very prospect inspiring him with hope and boldness in his exertions."

"There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty."

"It is better that a guilty man should not be brought to trial than that he should be acquitted."

"The state is suffering from two opposite vices, avarice and luxury; two plagues which, in the past, have been the ruin of every great empire."

"No law can possibly meet the convenience of every one: we must be satisfied if it be beneficial on the whole and to the majority."

"No law is sufficiently convenient to all."

"We feel public misfortunes just so far as they affect our private circumstances, and nothing of this nature appeals more directly to us than the loss of money."

"Good fortune and a good disposition are rarely given to the same man."

"It is when fortune is the most propitious that she is least to be trusted."

"It is easier to criticize than to correct our past errors."

"Better and safer is an assured peace than a victory hoped for. The one is in your own power, the other is in the hands of the gods."

"Nowhere are our calculations more frequently upset than in war."

"Men are slower to recognise blessings than misfortunes."

"Greater is our terror of the unknown."

"There is always more spirit in attack than in defense."

"Temerity is not always successful."

"No crime can ever be defended on rational grounds."

"The populace is like the sea, motionless in itself, but stirred by every wind, even the lightest breeze."

"I approach these questions unwillingly, as it wounds, but no cure can be effected without touching upon and handling them."

"Men are only too clever at shifting blame from their own shoulders to those of others."

"Under the influence of fear, which always leads men to take a pessimistic view of things, they magnified their enemies’ resources, and minimized their own."

"In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest."

"Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason."

"Such is the nature of crowds: either they are humble and servile or arrogant and dominating. They are incapable of making moderate use of freedom, which is the middle course, or of keeping it."

"It is easy at any moment to surrender a large fortune; to build one up is a difficult and an arduous task."

"The name of freedom regained is sweet to hear."

"Notissimum [...] malum maxime tolerabile"

"They lived under a just and moderate government, and they admitted that one bond of their fidelity was that their rulers were the better men."