Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicerowas a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and was one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionStatesman
friendship favors vices
Friendship is given us by nature, not to favor vice, but to aid virtue.
knowledge justice may
Knowledge which is divorced from justice, may be called cunning rather than wisdom.
eye soul portraits
The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intentions.
inspirational patience philosophical
The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil.
book giving house
To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul.
nature mistake philosophical
It is the nature of every person to error, but only the fool perseveres in error.
lying men giving
All men have a feeling, that they would rather you told them a civil lie than give them a point blank refusal.... If you make a promise, the thing is still uncertain, depends on a future day, and concerns but few people; but if you refuse you alienate people to a certainty and at once, and many people too.
enough acquire
It is not enough to acquire wisdom, it is necessary to employ it.
military phases-of-life phases
No phase of life, whether public or private, can be free from duty.
dog stupid boys
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?
favour injury regard
Favours out of place I regard as positive injuries.
character reflection dexterity
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.
philosophical power republic
In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.
life trust confidence
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.