Cicero Quotes

No liberal man would impute a charge of unsteadiness to another for having changed his opinion.

All soils are not fertile.

Every stage of human life, except the last, is marked out by certain and defined limits; old age alone has no precise and determinate boundary.

As a philosopher, I have a right to ask for a rational explanation of religious faith.

That is probable which for the most part usually comes to pass, or which is a part of the ordinary beliefs of mankind.

The science of love is the philosophy of the heart

It is like taking the sun out of the world, to bereave human life of friendship.

Leisure consists in all those virtuous activities by which a man grows morally, intellectually, and spiritually. It is that which makes a life worth living.

For what is there more hideous than avarice, more brutal than lust, more contemptible than cowardice, more base than stupidity and folly?

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

Strain every nerve to gain your point.

For there is assuredly nothing dearer to a man than wisdom, and though age takes away all else, it undoubtedly brings us that.

There is nothing god cannot do.

It is our own evil thoughts which madden us.

Let every man practise the trade which he best understands.

Time is the herald of truth.

I hate all children of precocious talent.

War leads to peace. [Lat., Cedant arma togae.]

We cannot employ the mind to advantage when we are filled with excessive food and drink.

Friendship is not to be sought for its wages, but because its revenue consists entirely in the love which it implies.

An ancient custom obtains force of nature.

We don't believe a liar even when he tells the truth.

The thirst of desire is never filled, nor fully satisfied.

I depart from life as from an inn, and not as from my home. [Lat., Ex vita discedo, tanquam ex hospitio, non tanquam ex domo.]

A wise man does nothing by constraint.

Our span of life is brief, but is long enough for us to live well and honestly.

If a man aspires to the highest place, it is no dishonor to him to halt at the second, or even at the third.

The mansion should not be graced by its master, the master should grace the mansion.

Nature ordains that a man should wish the good of every man, whoever he may be, for this very reason that he is a man.

Old age by nature is rather talkative.

Before beginning, prepare carefully.

Constant practice devoted to one subject often outdoes both intelligence and skill. - Assiduus usus uni rei deditus et ingenium et artem saepe vincit

Though laughter is allowable, a horse-laugh is abominable.

Rashness is the companion of youth, prudence of old age.

Prudence in action avails more than wisdom in conception.

The devil finds work for idle hands to do. Better to reign in the hell than serve in heaven. We are in bondage to the law in order that we may be free.

Nothing troubles you for which you do not yearn.

Every man's friend is no man's friend.

To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child.

If you wish to remove avarice you must remove its mother, luxuries. [Lat., Avaritiam si tollere vultis, mater ejus est tollenda, luxuries.]

Let the punishment match the offense.

He is rich who wishes no more than he has.

There is no opinion so stupid that it can't be expressed by some philosopher.

There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly.

There is no place more delightful than one's own fireside. Nullus est locus domestica sede jucundior.

For what people have always sought is equality before the law. For rights that were not open to all alike would be no rights.

We are not born for ourselves alone.

No deceit is so veiled as that which lies concealed behind the semblance of courtesy.

There is no quality I would rather have, and be thought to have, than gratitude. For it is not only the greatest virtue, but is the mother of all the rest.

Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one.