"All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may be pursued with great vigor at first, but are sure to collapse in the end. "
— Publius Cornelius Tacitus
hopetheturtle
September 19, 2011, 3:35 pm
I disagree, some people see things through and don't lose their original zest for the project.
fredsevent
September 29, 2012, 3:20 pm
Is this a weird quote or what?
chopstix
December 6, 2012, 7:30 pm
All I know is that putting in "can", not "may" slowed me down quite a bit.
wvwoman
January 22, 2014, 10:20 am
me, too, chopstix--took me a while to find my error!
Highpoint
July 9, 2014, 1:59 pm
Meaning what? What is indiscreet zeal?
wvwoman
July 13, 2014, 11:49 am
good question, highpoint--who wants to take this one?!
kb83
September 9, 2014, 7:39 am
If you have to ask what indiscreet zeal is, it may just be hopeless.
montyb
December 23, 2014, 1:24 am
My end collapsed years ago.
LLapp
January 5, 2015, 4:51 pm
I think he means zeal that is untempered by due diligence -- that you need both zeal and prudence to bring a big pursuit to fruition. Does that help?
abracadebra
March 24, 2015, 2:37 pm
I think it means that the enterprises secrets are overly enthusiastic, that some things are just better unsaid.
killdozer
May 20, 2015, 2:53 pm
By "indiscrete zeal," he means recklessness, Enthusiasm without planning.
Andy451
October 11, 2015, 10:50 am
Is this why infidelity gets such a bad rap, in other words? Or marriage too, for that matter? Or even remaining celibate for that matter? What's a Roman to do then Tacitus? So Caesar should have written, "I came; I saw; I was conquered"? No wonder the Roman Empire crumbled in to dust. No wonder all empires that came before or after it, met the same fate. As the noble Roman Katie Couric would say, "Oh, now I get it!"
pegxpeg
July 20, 2016, 3:04 pm
Good explanation, killdozer.
CarpeLanam
November 7, 2016, 2:41 am
I spent some time trying to trace this quote... it may be from Annals XV, where there is a description of a conspiracy to assassinate Nero that fell apart and resulted in a bloodbath of the conspirators and their associates.
LLapp
November 28, 2016, 2:31 pm
Killdozer's explanation and CarpeLanam's context are so helpful. Thank you both!
blueladyblue
April 4, 2018, 8:26 am
This quote has been pursued with vigor by some of the comments here. Other comments were typed hurriedly with indiscreet zeal.
mohamm1
January 24, 2022, 7:09 pm
Therefore, use discrete zeal, or rent cars from National or Thrifty instead of Enterprise. ==================================== You solved this cryptogram in 83 seconds. That's worth 286 points!
https://cryptograms.puzzlebaron.com/
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