Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

Time puts an end to speculation in opinions, and confirms the laws of nature.

Virtue is increased by the smile of approval; and the love of renown is the greatest incentive to honourable acts.

Who can love the man he fears. or by who he thinks he is himself feared?

The man who is always fortunate cannot easily have a great reverence for virtue.

Oh, how great is the power of truth! which of its own power can easily defend itself against all the ingenuity and cunning and wisdom of men, and against the treacherous plots of all the world.

The law is silent during war. [Lat., Silent leges inter arma.]

To remain ignorant of history is to remain forever a child

There is no being of any race who, if he finds the proper guide, cannot attain to virtue.

...the counsels of the Divine Mind had some glimpse of truth when they said that men are born in order to suffer the penalty for sins committed in a former life.

Anyone who has got a book collection/library and a garden wants for nothing.

In times of war, the law falls silent.

Little by little old age renders the body less powerful.

Action is the language of the body and should harmonize with the spirit within.

Philosophy is the true mother of science.

There is nothing which wings its flight so swiftly as calumny, nothing is uttered with more ease; nothing is listened to with more readiness, nothing disbursed more widely.

Nothing is too absurd to be said by some of the philosophers.

Saving the virtues includes all other advantages

What the object of senile avarice may be I cannot conceive. For can there be anything more absurd than to seek more journey money, the less there remains of the journey?

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.