Top 300 Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes (2023)

1. Peace and war

2. “Dum spiro, spero.”

3. “While there's life, there's hope.”

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

5. “Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

6. “Vicious habits are so odious and degrading that they transform the individual who practices them into an incarnate demon.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

7. “People don’t know the value of what they have until it is gone: Freedom suppressed and again regained bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered…. Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude. Don’t wait till freedom is gone before you enjoy, value, support, protect and make the most of it!” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

8. “We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.”

9. “If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

10. “Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator.”

11. “Life is nothing without friendship.”

12. The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.

13. “Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:

14. “Loyalty is what we seek in friendship.”

15. “There are two ways to resolve conflicts, through violence or through negotiation. Violence is for wild beasts, negotiation is for human beings.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

16. “What society does to its children, so will its children do to society.”

17. “The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.”

18. “More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

19. ...ho ho ho, and hee hee hee, break that lute across my knee... and if the bard, should choose to fight, why then I'll set his clothes alight...

20. “On The Conduct of Life” (1822) (4,675)

21. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

22. “Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

24. Never go to excess but let moderation be your guide.

25. “Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

26. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

27. “Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

28. “The nobler a man, the harder it is for him to suspect inferiority in others.”

29. “Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum. (Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.)” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

30. “It is our own evil thoughts which madden us.”

31. “In a republic, this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

32. “A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.”

33. “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.”

34. The art of life is to deal with problems as they arise, rather than destroy one’s spirit by worrying about them too far in advance.

35. “You must therefore love me, myself, and not my circumstances, if we are to be real friends.”

36. “The first duty of man is the seeking after and the investigation of truth.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

37. “Life is nothing without friendship.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

38. “Politicians are not born; they are excreted.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

39. “Never injure a friend, even in jest.”

40. “Freedom suppressed and again regained bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered.”

41. “For out of such an ungoverned populace one is usually chosen as a leader, someone bold and unscrupulous who curries favor with the people by giving them other men’s property. To such a man the protection of public office is given, and continually renewed. He emerges as a tyrant over the very people who raised him to power.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

42. “A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

43. “I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.”

44. “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

45. “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

46. “Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

47. He will stand at the edge of the water and watch the Dragonborn from the shore. This can result in him getting lost in the environment. Waiting an hour or two when far enough away from him will teleport him to the Dragonborn's location.

48. “The life of the dead is placed on the memories of the living. The love you gave in life keeps people alive beyond their time. Anyone who was given love will always live on in another's heart.”

49. “Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the 'new, wonderful good society' which shall now be Rome, interpreted to mean 'more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.'”

50. “What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.”

51. “Dum Spiro, spero”

52. “It is difficult to persuade mankind that the love of virtue is the love of themselves.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero”

53. “Morals today are corrupted by our worship of riches.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

54. “Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.”

55. “For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.”

56. “Life without learning is death.”

57. “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”

58. “Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.”

59. “A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog. Who can trust such creatures?” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

60. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellence and endowments of the human mind.

61. “Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.”

62. “To err is human, but to persevere in error is only the act of a fool.”

63. “The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

64. “I criticize by creation, not by finding fault.”

65. “A man of courage is also full of faith.”

66. “Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

67. ...oh if I chance to see a cat, I'll feed its corpse to my pet rat...

68. The whole glory of virtue resides in activity.

69. “In times of war, the law falls silent.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

70. “In times of war, the law falls silent.

71. “Wealth and Poverty,” speech, National… (11,815)

72. “When time and need require, we should resist with all our might, and prefer death to slavery and disgrace.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

73. Getting older

74. “The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

75. The purpose of education is to free the student from the tyranny of the present.

76. “They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens but not foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which benevolence and justice would perish forever.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

77. ...tra la la, tra la lee, da da dum dum, dee dee...

78. “Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”

79. “The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

80. “The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.”

81. “Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.”

82. “The sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

83. “Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief”

84. If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.

85. “He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason.”

86. “For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

87. ...Cicero is hungry... ...need a sweetroll... or a carrot...

88. “It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

89. “Hatred is settled anger.”

90. ... law in the proper sense is right reason in harmony with nature. It is spread through the whole human community, unchanging and eternal, calling people to their duty by its commands and deterring them from wrong-doing by its prohibitions. When it addresses a good man, its commands and prohibitions are never in vain; but those same commands and prohibitions have no effect on the wicked. This law cannot be countermanded, nor can it be in any way amended, nor can it be totally rescinded. We cannot be exempted from this law by any decree of the Senate or the people, nor do we need anyone else to expound or explain it. There will not be one such law in Rome and another in Athens, one now and another in the future, but all peoples at all times will be embraced by a single eternal and unchangeable law; and there will be, as it were, one lord and master of us all -- the god who is the author, proposer, and interpreter of that law. Whoever refuses to obey it will be turning his back on himiself. Because he has denied his nature as a human being he will face the gravest penalties for this alone, even if he succeeds in avoiding all the other things that are regarded as punishments ...

91. “There exists a law, not written down anywhere but inborn in our hearts; a law which comes to us not by training or custom or reading but by derivation and absorption and adoption from nature itself; a law which has come to us not from theory but from practice, not by instruction but by natural intuition. I refer to the law which lays it down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

92. “Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

93. ...the High King's court needs a jester... But not me. No, not Cicero. The Fool of Hearts is busy enough, thank you very much...

94. “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”

95. “If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

96. “It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.”

97. “They condemn what they do not understand.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

98. “The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.”

99. It is the character of a brave and resolute person not to be ruffled by adversity, and not to desert their post.

100. A liar is not believed even though he tells the truth.

101. “Just as the soul fills the body, so God fills the world. Just as the soul bears the body, so God endures the world. Just as the soul sees but is not seen, so God sees but is not seen. Just as the soul feeds the body, so God gives food to the world.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

102. “To be content with what we possess is the greatest and most secure of riches.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

103. “Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.”

104. “For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives.”

105. “A friend is, as it were, a second self.”

106. ...I saw a dwarf! I did! I did! Cicero saw a dwarf! There... Oh. No, sorry. No dwarf...

107. Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable longing to see the truth.

108. “Man is his own worst enemy.”

109. “I don’t understand what the man who is happy wants in order to be happier.”

110. If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

111. Do not hold the delusion that your advancement is accomplished by crushing others.

112. “No well-informed person has declared a change of opinion to be inconstancy.”

113. “It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor.”

114. “The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

115. “If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.”

116. “Of all nature’s gifts to the human race, what is sweeter to a man than his children?” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

117. “The greatest pleasures are only narrowly separated from disgust.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

118. “Not for ourselves alone are we born.”

119. “It is a great thing to know our vices.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

120. “We study history not to be clever in another time, but to be wise always.”

121. “The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

122. “Promises are not to be kept, if the keeping of them is to prove harmful to those to whom you have made them.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

123. “If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words.”

124. “The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

125. “The man who is always fortunate cannot easily have a great reverence for virtue.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

126. “I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war.”

127. “Next to God we are nothing. To God we are Everything.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

128. “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

129. “We should be careful that our benevolence does not exceed our means.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

130. “Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

131. “The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

132. “Extreme justice is extreme injustice.”

133. “What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

134. “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.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

135. “In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods, than in giving health to men.”

136. “Those who do not know history will forever remain children.”

137. “Nothing dries sooner than a tear.”

138. “Non nobis solum nati sumus.

139. “Your enemies can kill you, but only your friends can hurt you.”

140. “The life of the dead is set in the memory of the living.”

141. “Any man can make mistakes but only an idiot persists in his error.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

142. “A nation can survive its fools, even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within….for the traitor appears not to be a traitor…he rots the soul of a nation…he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

143. “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

144. “Non nobis solum nati sumus. (Not for ourselves alone are we born.)” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

145. ...and if I spy a singing bird, I'll snap its neck before it's heard...

146. ...dear Cicero will keep you from harm, sweet Mother. Forever and always...

147. “It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good.”

148. “History is the witness of the times, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity.”

149. ...must oil Mother soon... ...get all the hard to reach places...

150. “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”

151. Any man can make mistakes but only an idiot persists in his error.

152. “Probability is the very guide of life.”

153. “When a government becomes powerful it is destructive, extravagant and violent; it is an usurer which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable men of their substance, for votes with which to perpetuate itself.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

154. “The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.”

155. “Nothing is more unreliable than the populace, nothing more obscure than human intentions, nothing more deceptive than the whole electoral system.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

156. “It is a man’s own dishonesty, his crimes, his wickedness, and boldness, that takes away from him soundness of mind; these are the furies, these the flames, and firebrands, of the wicked.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

157. “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

158. “More laws, less justice.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

159. ...Forsworn think they're so scary... Cicero will show you who's scary... Stupid Forsworn...

160. “Before beginning, plan carefully.”

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

162. “When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

163. “The purpose of education is to free the student from the tyranny of the present.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

164. He will do what he is told, such as using an Alchemy Station or sitting in a chair, but as soon as the player presses B or talks to him, he stops what he is doing and approaches the player character, instead of continuing to wait or do what he was told to, like other followers. The only command unaffected by this bug is when told to attack someone/something: he performs the task and the crosshairs return to normal.

165. “The budget should be balanced, the treasury refilled, public debt reduced, the arrogance of officialdom tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

167. If you pursue good with labour, the labour passes away but the good remains; if you pursue evil with pleasure, the pleasure passes away and the evil remains.

168. ...What? Mother? Is that your voice I hear? Hmm... No, no... Just my head playing tricks... Foolish Cicero...

169. “It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

170. “The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.”

171. “More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.”

172. “The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

173. “A home without books is a body without soul.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

174. ...but the grind has been absolutely worth it!

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

176. “Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.”

177. “The good of the people is the greatest law.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

178. ...and he says to the man, 'That's not a horker! That's my wife!' Ha ha ha ha ha... Ah... I love that one...

179. “The Lesson for Today,” A Witness Tree (1942) (6,371)

180. “Knowledge which is divorced from justice, may be called cunning rather than wisdom.”

181. “The Triumph of Stupidity,” New York… (5,980)

182. ...need to get Mother some flowers... pretty, pretty flowers...

183. “What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious.”

184. “While there’s life, there’s hope.”

185. “The Jews belong to a dark and repulsive force. One knows how numerous this clique is, how they stick together and what power they exercise through their unions. They are a nation of rascals and deceivers.”

186. “What an ugly beast is the ape, and how like us.”

187. “The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured.”

188. “Tips for Teens,” Social Studies (1981) (5,184)

189. The power of public speaking

190. “The life of the dead is placed on the memories of the living. The love you gave in life keeps people alive beyond their time. Anyone who was given love will always live on in another’s heart.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

191. “Nothing is so secure as that money will not defeat it.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

192. “We must not say that every mistake is a foolish one.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

193. “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.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

194. Philosopher Cicero on change

195. “Never was a government that was not composed of liars, malefactors and thieves.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

196. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

197. “Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

198. “The purpose of education is to free the student from the tyranny of the present.”

199. “Not to have a mania for buying, is to possess a revenue.”

200. “Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.”

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

202. “A man would have no pleasures in discovering all the beauties of the universe, even in heaven itself, unless he had a partner to whom he might communicate his joys.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

203. “Politicians are not born; they are excreted.”

204. ...Oooh... Cicero wants some Skyforge Steel! Sharp sharp, for easy stabbing...

205. ...madness is merry, and merriment's might, when the jester comes calling with his knife in the night...

206. “A friend is, as it were a second self.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

207. The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.

208. “Love is the attempt to form a friendship inspired by beauty.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

209. “Glory follows virtue as if it were its shadow.”

210. “I have always been of the opinion that unpopularity earned by doing what is right is not unpopularity at all, but glory.”

211. “In everything truth surpasses the imitation and copy.”

212. “Friendship arises from nature as such, rather than from some neediness: from the application of the mind, along with a kind of love, rather than from thinking about how much advantage the relationships might bring.”

213. “Every evil in the bud is easily crushed: as it grows older, it becomes stronger.”

214. ...and I said to the baker, 'You're not dead! You're a faker!' But if that's your wish, I'll oblige...

215. “If we are forced, at every hour, to watch or listen to horrible events, this constant stream of ghastly impressions will deprive even the most delicate among us of all respect for humanity.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

216. “It is the character of a brave and resolute person not to be ruffled by adversity, and not to desert their post.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

217. “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”

218. “Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labor; read as one goes in; read as one goest out. The task of the educated mind is simply put: read to lead.”

219. “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.”

220. “For not only is Fortune blind herself, but as a rule she even blinds those she has embraced.”

221. “The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

222. “Truth is corrupted as much by lies as by silence.”

223. “Long life is denied us; therefore let us do something to show that we have lived.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

224. The foundation of justice is good faith.

225. “Never go to excess but let moderation be your guide.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

226. “Your enemies can kill you but only your friends can hurt you.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

227. “The Jews belong to a dark and repulsive force. One knows how numerous this clique is, how they stick together and what power they exercise through their unions. They are a nation of rascals and deceivers.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

228. “The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

229. “To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one’s self to die.”

230. “The safety of the people shall be the highest law.”

231. “A Cult of Ignorance,” Newsweek (21 Jan 1980) (4,527)

232. “It is a great thing to know your vices.”

233. “He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

235. I have always been of the opinion that unpopularity earned by doing what is right is not unpopularity at all but glory.

236. “Anyone may fairly seek his own advantage, but no one has a right to do so at another’s expense.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

237. Rational ability without education has oftener raised man to glory and virtue.

238. ...Cicero never understood thieves, really... take someone's things before you kill them? And they call me crazy...

239. “The more laws, the less justice.”

240. More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.

241. “Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellence and endowments of the human mind.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

242. “We learn nothing from history except that we learn nothing from history.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

243. “The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

244. “There is no one who can give you wiser advice than you can give yourself: you will never make a slip, if you listen to your own heart.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

245. ...when I next meet, that fair maid Nelly, I'll plunge my knife into her belly...

246. Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.

247. “It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, the force of character, and judgment.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

248. “The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter.”

249. “Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new, wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome, interpreted to mean ‘more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.'” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

250. “What society does to its children, so will its children do to society.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

251. “Life without learning is death.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

252. “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

253. ... It was Seneca or it was Cicero, I don't know which, that said, "If it was not for the elders correcting the mistakes of the young, there would be no state."

254. “The life of the dead is placed on the memories of the living. The love you gave in life keeps people alive beyond their time. Anyone who was given love will always live on in another’s heart.”

255. “I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

256. “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.”

257. “Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable.”

258. “Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

259. The sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship.

260. “Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labor; read as one goes in; read as one goest out. The task of the educated mind is simply put: read to lead.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

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

262. “As I give thought to the matter, I find four causes for the apparent misery of old age; first, it withdraws us from active accomplishments; second, it renders the body less powerful; third, it deprives us of almost all forms of enjoyment; fourth, it stands not far from death.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

263. “It is not enough to acquire wisdom, it is necessary to employ it.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

264. Truth and silence

265. “Within the character of the citizen, lies the welfare of the nation.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

266. “What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

267. “Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that very liberty. Our Constitution speaks of the “general welfare of the people.” Under that phrase all sorts of excesses can be employed by lusting tyrants to make us bondsmen.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

268. True friendship

269. “Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.”

270. “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

271. Happiness greed

272. “While there’s life, there’s hope.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

273. “To live long, live slowly.”

274. “To be content with what we possess is the greatest and most secure of riches.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

275. “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

276. “Anger is the beginning of madness.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

278. “Hatreds not vowed and concealed are to be feared more than those openly declared.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

279. “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

280. “When money is unreasonably coveted, it is a disease of the mind which is called avarice.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

281. “I have always been of the opinion that unpopularity earned by doing what is right is not unpopularity at all but glory.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

282. “The study and knowledge of the universe would somehow be lame and defective were no practical results to follow.”

283. “The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.”

284. “Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labor; read as one goes out. The task of the educated mind is simply put: read to lead.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

285. ...Is there singing in the Void? Dancing...? Surely the Dread Lord will at least allow poor Cicero to caper...

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

287. “We should be as careful of our words as of our actions.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

288. “In times of war, the law falls silent.”

289. “When time and need require, we should resist with all our might, and prefer death to slavery and disgrace.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

290. “Sometimes I do what I want to. The rest of the time- I do what I have to.”

291. “The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

292. “It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

293. “The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

294. “Let the welfare of the people be the ultimate law.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

295. “Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.”

296. “Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

297. ...need to sharpen my blade... make it shiny, gleamy, and oh so deadly...

298. “I have always been of the opinion that unpopularity earned by doing what is right is not unpopularity at all, but glory.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

299. “Please go on, make your threats. I don’t like to submit to mere implication.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

300. “A man of courage is also full of faith.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

301. Rightly defined philosophy is simply the love of wisdom.

302. “To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days.”

303. “Men are like wine: age sours the bad and improves the good.”