To the governors who recommended burdensome taxes for his provinces, he [Tiberius] wrote in answer that it was the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not skin it.
Praesidibus onerandas tributo provincias suadentibus rescripsit boni pastoris esse tondere pecus non deglubere.
Share this quote
Notes from Wikiquote
From Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, III. Tiberius, Ch. 32; translation by J. C. Rolfe | Latter component of the quotation often paraphrased as Boni pastoris est tondere pecus non deglubere.