Laudator Temporis Acti

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 8.25.3 (tr. Earnest Cary):

All things are subject to change and nothing is apt to continue long in the same state. All things that wax too great, when they reach the peak of eminence, incur the displeasure of the gods and are brought to naught again. And this is the fate which comes especially to stubborn and haughty spirits and those that overstep the bounds of human nature.

μεταβολὰς ἔχει πάντα τὰ πράγματα καὶ οὐδὲν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν φιλεῖ διαμένειν, νεμεσᾶταί τε πάντα ὑπὸ θεῶν τὰ ὑπερέχοντα, ὅταν εἰς ἄκρον ἐπιφανείας ἀφίκηται, καὶ τρέπεται πάλιν εἰς τὸ μηδέν. μάλιστα δὲ τοῦτο πάσχει τὰ σκληρὰ καὶ μεγάλαυχα φρονήματα καὶ τοὺς ὅρους ἐκβαίνοντα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως.

Horace, Odes 2.10.9-12 (tr. C.E. Bennett):

'Tis oftener the tall pine that is shaken by the wind; 'tis the lofty towers that fall with the heavier crash, and 'tis the tops of the mountains that the lightning strikes.

saepius ventis agitatur ingens
pinus et celsae graviore casu
decidunt turres feriuntque summos
    fulgura montis.

Related post: The Lowly and the Lofty.