Cicero Quotes

There is no thing which God cannot accomplish.

It is our duty, my young friends, to resist old age.

Let us not go over the old ground but rather prepare for what is to come.

What is thine is mine, and all mine is thine.

The mind becomes accustomed to things by the habitual sight of them, and neither wonders nor inquires about the reasons for things it sees all the time.

Opinionum enim commenta delet dies; naturæ judicia confirmat. Time destroys the groundless conceits of men; it confirms decisions founded on reality.

Not to know what happened before one was born is always to be a child.

No one has lived a short life who has performed its duties with unblemished character.

Let the force of arms give place to law and justice.

There is no one so old as to not think they may live a day longer.

The precept, "Know yourself," was not solely intended to obviate the pride of mankind; but likewise that we might understand our own worth.

I have never yet known a poet who did not think himself super-excellent.

Piety and holiness of life will propitiate the gods. [Lat., Deos placatos pietas efficiet et sanctitas.]

I do not wish to die: but I care not if I were dead. [Lat., Emori nolo: sed me esse mortuum nihil aestimo.]

Economy is a great revenue. [Lat., Magnum vectigal est parsimonia.]

A dissolute and intemperate youth hands down the body to old age in a worn-out state.

The authors who affect contempt for a name in the world put their names to the books which they invite the world to read.

There is not a moment without some duty.

Certain signs are the forerunners of certain events.

Do nothing twice over.

How do our philosophers act? Do they not inscribe their signatures to the very essays they write on the propriety of despising glory.

Ignorance of impending evil is far better than a knowledge of its approach.

To wonder at nothing when it happens, to consider nothing impossible before it has come to pass.

Man's life is ruled by fortune, not by wisdom.

For a courageous man cannot die dishonorably, a man who has attained the consulship cannot die before his time, a philosopher cannot die wretchedly.

Nothing is so difficult to believe that oratory cannot make it acceptable, nothing so rough and uncultured as not to gain brilliance and refinement from eloquence.

What is impossible by the nature of things is not confirmed by any law.

An innocent man, if accused, can be acquitted; a guilty man, unless accused, cannot be condemned. It is, however, more advantageous to absolve an innocent than not to prosecute a guilty man.

When trying a case [the famous judge] L. Cassius never failed to inquire "Who gained by it?" Man's character is such that no one undertakes crimes without hope of gain.

Peace is so beneficial that the word itself is pleasant to hear.

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

I criticize by creation, not by finding fault.

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

Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief

In times of war, the law falls s

Nescire autem quid antequam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. (To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.)

For walk where we will, we tread upon some story.

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

The life of the dead is set in the memory of the living.

I cannot find a faithful message-bearer, " he wrote to his friend, the scholar Atticus. "How few are they who are able to carry a rather weighty letter without lightening it by reading.

Are we looking for the absolute truth or the absolute feeling? Or the answer that best suits our personal needs?

Knowledge which is divorced from justice may be called cunning rather than wisdom.

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

No power on earth, if it labours beneath the burden of fear, can possibly be strong enough to survive.

Law applied to its extreme is the greatest injustice

There are no snares more dangerous than those which lurk under the guise of duty or the name of relationship.

Nemo enim est tam senex qui se annum non putet posse vivere.(No one is so old as to think that he cannot live one more year.)

Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defense can be just.

I have no interest in dying.But I have to. I have to care one day about things that don't matter to me.

the lessons are best when the pain is worse