Philosophy

The Best Cicero Quotes

Updated June 14, 2019 3.4k votes 1.1k voters 55.1k views

List Rules

Must be a famous or well-known quote. If a quote is cut off you can hover over the text to see the full quote.

A list of the best Cicero quotes. This list is arranged by which famous Cicero quotes have received the most votes, so only the greatest Cicero quotes are at the top of the list. All the most popular quotes from Cicero should be listed here, but if any were missed you can add more at the end of the list. This list includes notable Cicero quotes on various subjects, many of which are inspirational and thought provoking.

This list answers the questions, "What are the best Cicero quotes?" and "What is the most famous Cicero quote?"

You can see what subjects these historic Cicero quotes fall under displayed to the right of the quote. Be sure to vote so your favorite Cicero saying won't fall to the bottom of the list.

1
Reason should direct and appetite obey.
2
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.
3
Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.
4
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.
5
They condemn what they do not understand.
6
Virtue is its own reward.
7
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.
8
It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own.
9
As you have sown so shall you reap.
10
Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.

11
A room without books is like a body without a soul.
12
I am not ashamed to confess I am ignorant of what I do not know.
13
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.
14
Friends are proved by adversity.
15
I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.
16
It is the nature of every person to error, but only the fool perseveres in error.
17
The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.
18
The good of the people is the greatest law.
19
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.
20
A friend is, as it were, a second self.

21
While there's life, there's hope.
22
Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak.
23
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.
24
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.
25
I never admire another's fortune so much that I became dissatisfied with my own.

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.