Cicero Quotes - Cicero Quotations

In men of the highest character and noblest genius there is to be found an insatiable desire for honour, command, power, and glory.
Cicero

Our thoughts are free.
Cicero


Nature herself makes the wise man rich.
Cicero

Neither can embellishments of language be found without arrangement and expression of thoughts, nor can thoughts be made to shine without the light of language.
Cicero

Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.
Cicero

Advice is judged by results, not by intentions.
Cicero

All action is of the mind and the mirror of the mind is the face, its index the eyes.
Cicero

Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.
Cicero

Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which and be pointed out by your finger.
Cicero

It is a great thing to know our vices.
Cicero

Where is there dignity unless there is honesty?
Cicero

It is a true saying that "One falsehood leads easily to another".
Cicero

The evil implanted in man by nature spreads so imperceptibly, when the habit of wrong-doing is unchecked, that he himself can set no limit to his shamelessness.
Cicero

The first duty of a man is the seeking after and the investigation of truth.
Cicero

No one can speak well, unless he thoroughly understands his subject.
Cicero

Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.
Cicero

A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation.
Cicero

The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret - that man is black at heart: mark and avoid him.
Cicero

The name of peace is sweet, and the thing itself is beneficial, but there is a great difference between peace and servitude. Peace is freedom in tranquillity, servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.
Cicero

The strictest law often causes the most serious wrong.
Cicero

The welfare of the people is the ultimate law. (Salus Populi Suprema Est Lex)
Cicero

The wise are instructed by reason; ordinary minds by experience; the stupid, by necessity; and brutes by instinct.
Cicero

There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment.
Cicero

There is no duty more obligatory than the repayment of kindness.
Cicero

To be content with what one has is the greatest and truest of riches.
Cicero

To each his own. (Suum Cuique)
Cicero

We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.
Cicero

What we call pleasure, and rightly so is the absence of all pain.
Cicero

When you wish to instruct, be brief; that men's minds take in quickly what you say, learn its lesson, and retain it faithfully. Every word that is unnecessary only pours over the side of a brimming mind.
Cicero

There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.
Cicero

Let the punishment match the offense.
Cicero


Friendship make prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.
Cicero

History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.
Cicero

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

While there's life, there's hope.
Cicero

He removes the greatest ornament of friendship, who takes away from it respect.
Cicero

I will go further, and assert that nature without culture can often do more to deserve praise than culture without nature.
Cicero

If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place.
Cicero

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

The shifts of Fortune test the reliability of friends.
Cicero

Let your desires be ruled by reason. (Appetitus Rationi Pareat)
Cicero

Laws are silent in times of war.
Cicero

Let arms give place to the robe, and the laurel of the warriors yield to the tongue of the orator.
Cicero

A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.
Cicero

A life of peace, purity, and refinement leads to a calm and untroubled old age.
Cicero

He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason.
Cicero


Men decide far more problems by hate, love, lust, rage, sorrow, joy, hope, fear, illusion, or some other inward emotion, than by reality, authority, any legal standard, judicial precedent, or statute.
Cicero

Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.
Cicero

Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.
Cicero

Such praise coming from so degraded a source, was degrading to me, its recipient.
Cicero

The absolute good is not a matter of opinion but of nature.
Cicero


In so far as the mind is stronger than the body, so are the ills contracted by the mind more severe than those contracted by the body.
Cicero

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.
Cicero

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

Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
Cicero

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

Reason should direct and appetite obey.
Cicero

Strain every nerve to gain your point.
Cicero