Quotations The Best Cicero Quotes  

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1

44 2

Friends are proved by adversity. Cicero

2

150 18

Silence is one of the great arts of conversation. Cicero

3

108 10

The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct. Cicero

4

95 8

A room without books is like a body without a soul. Cicero

5

94 8

It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own. Cicero

6

246 46

The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence. Cicero

7

108 11

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. Cicero

8

68 5

They condemn what they do not understand. Cicero

9

72 6

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. Cicero

10

65 5

As you have sown so shall you reap. Cicero

11

47 3

The good of the people is the greatest law. Cicero

12

15 0

Reason should direct and appetite obey. Cicero

13

52 4

Virtue is its own reward. Cicero

14

44 3

It is the nature of every person to error, but only the fool perseveres in error. Cicero

15

82 10

Life is nothing without friendship. Cicero

16

35 2

Rightly defined philosophy is simply the love of wisdom. Cicero

17

43 3

Let reason govern desire. Cicero

18

43 3

I never admire another's fortune so much that I became dissatisfied with my own. Cicero

19

49 4

The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory. Cicero

20

75 9

While there's life, there's hope. Cicero

21

41 3

Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind. Cicero

22

24 1

Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things. Cicero

23

24 1

It is better to receive than to do injury. Cicero

24

24 1

When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honorable to reach the second or even the third rank. Cicero

25

24 1

It shows a brave and resolute spirit not to be agitated in exciting circumstances. Cicero

26

40 3

I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity. Cicero

27

52 5

I am not ashamed to confess I am ignorant of what I do not know. Cicero

28

32 2

michaelj72 added If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

29

58 7

Before beginning, plan carefully. Cicero

30

37 3

There never was a great soul that did not have some divine inspiration. Cicero

31

48 5

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence. Cicero

32

57 7

Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak. Cicero

33

30 2

Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge. Cicero

34

22 1

Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Cicero

35

29 2

There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it. Cicero

36

29 2

A friend is, as it were, a second self. Cicero

37

41 4

If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it. Cicero

38

41 4

The causes of events are ever more interesting than the events themselves. Cicero

39

21 1

We think a happy life consists in tranquility of mind. Cicero

40

21 1

They are eloquent who can speak low things acutely, and of great things with dignity, and of moderate things with temper. Cicero

41

40 4

michaelj72 added Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century: Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others; Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected; Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it; Refusing to set aside trivial preferences; Neglecting development and refinement of the mind; Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

42

39 4

Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat. Cicero

43

38 4

Can there be greater foolishness than the respect you pay to people collectively when you despise them individually? Cicero

44

11 0

The foolishness of old age does not characterize all who are old, but only the foolish. Cicero

45

11 0

Friendship makes prosperity brighter, while it lightens adversity by sharing its grieves and anxieties. Cicero

46

37 4

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. Cicero

47

41 5

Let the punishment be proportionate to the offense. Cicero

48

19 1

There is wickedness in the intention of wickedness, even though it be not perpetrated in the act. Cicero

49

19 1

Justice consists of doing no one injury, decency in giving no one offense. Cicero

50

19 1

There is no place more delightful than one's own fireplace. Cicero