“Tis the first art of kings, the power to suffer hate.”
Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules), lines 353; (Lycus)
Alternate translation: To be able to endure odium is the first art to be learned by those who aspire to power (translator unknown).
Tragedies
Original
ars prima regni est posse invidiam pati.
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Seneca the Younger 225
Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4–65 BCRelated quotes

“For 'tis impossible
Hate to return with love.”
Che amar chi t'odia, ell'è impossibil cosa.
Polinice, II, 4; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 464.

“Strepsiades: ‘Tis the Whirlwind, that has driven out Zeus and is King now.”
tr. Athen. 1912, vol. 1, p. 350 http://books.google.com/books?id=9vpxAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Tis+the+Whirlwind%2C+that+has+driven+out+Jupiter+and+is+King+now%22
Clouds (423 BC)

“5068. 'Tis better to suffer Wrong, than to do it.”
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

Variant: Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring,
for His grace and pow'r are such
none can ever ask too much.

“I weigh the man, not his title; 'tis not the king's stamp can make the metal better.”
The Plain Dealer (1677), Act I, scene 1.

Man in the Modern Age (1933)
Context: The 'public' is a phantom, the phantom of an opinion supposed to exist in a vast number of persons who have no effective interrelation and though the opinion is not effectively present in the units. Such an opinion is spoken of as 'public opinion,' a fiction which is appealed to by individuals and by groups as supporting their special views. It is impalpable, illusory, transient; "'tis here, 'tis there, 'tis gone"; a nullity which can nevertheless for a moment endow the multitude with power to uplift or destroy.