Background Image

...

A Nation Can Survive Its Fools, Even The Ambitious. But It Cannot Survive Treason From Within....for The Traitor Appears Not To Be A Traitor...he Rots The Soul Of A Nation...he Infects The Body Politic So That It Can No Longer Resist.

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

A Nation Can Survive

Marcus Tullius Cicero

...

A Nation Can Survive Its Fools, Even The Ambitious. But It Cannot Survive Treason From Within....for The Traitor Appears Not To Be A Traitor...he Rots The Soul Of A Nation...he Infects The Body Politic So That It Can No Longer Resist.

Views: 73466

Topic

More From Marcus Tullius Cicero

Confidence Is That Feeling By Which The Mind Embarks In Great And Honorable Courses With A Sure Hope And Trust In Itself.

What Nobler Employment, Or More Valuable To The State, Than That Of The Man Who Instructs The Rising Generation?

There Is No More Sure Tie Between Friends Than When They Are United In Their Objects And Wishes.

Let Our Friends Perish, Provided That Our Enemies Fall At The Same Time.

An Acute First-class Brain Is The Finest Asset Anyone Can Have- And, If We Want To Be Happy, It Is An Asset We Must Exploit To The Uttermost.

Liberty Consists In The Power Of Doing That Which Is Permitted By The Law.

O Philosophy, Life's Guide! O Searcher-out Of Virtue And Expeller Of Vices! What Could We And Every Age Of Men Have Been Without Thee? Thou Hast Produced Cities; Thou Hast Called Men Scattered About Into The Social Enjoyment Of Life. [lat., O Vitae Philosophia Dux! O Virtutis Indagatrix, Expultrixque Vitiorum! Quid Non Modo Nos, Sed Omnino Vita Hominum Sine Et Esse Potuisset? Tu Urbes Peperisti; Tu Dissipatos Homines In Societatum Vitae Convocasti.]

As Thou Sowest, So Shalt Thou Reap.

There Is No Fortune So Strong That Money Cannot Take It.

Through Ignorance Of What Is Good And What Is Bad, The Life Of Men Is Greatly Perplexed.

Let Flattery, The Handmaid Of The Vices, Be Far Removed .

Pleasant Is The Recollection Of Dangers Past.

To The Sick, While There Is Life There Is Hope. [lat., Aegroto Dum Anima Est, Spes Est.]

Nature Has Granted The Use Of Life Like A Loan, Without Fixing Any Day For Repayment.

Our Generosity Never Should Exceed Our Abilities.

To Be Ignorant Of What Occurred Before You Were Born Is To Remain Always A Child.

Great Is Our Admiration Of The Orator Who Speaks With Fluency And Discretion.

I Am A Roman Citizen.

It Is The Act Of A Bad Man To Deceive By Falsehood.

The Intellect Engages Us In The Pursuit Of Truth. The Passions Impel Us To Action.

I Will Adhere To The Counsels Of Good Men, Although Misfortune And Death Should Be The Consequence.

Lay Down This Rule Of Friendship: Neither Ask Nor Consent To Do What Is Wrong. The Plea, 'for Friendship's Sake,' Is A Discreditable One, And Should Not Be Admitted For A Moment. We Should Ask From Friends And Do For Friends Only What Is Good.

It Shows A Weak Mind Not To Bear Prosperity As Well As Adversity With Moderation.

For Hardly Any Man Dances When Sober, Unless He Is Insane. Nor Does He Dance While Alone, Nor At A Respectable And Moderate Party. Dancing Is The Final Phase Of A Wild Party With Fancy Decorations And A Multitude Of Delights.

Who Doesn't Know That The First Law Of History Is Not To Dare To Say Anything False, And The Second Is Not To Refrain From Saying Anything True?

For One Day Spent Well, And Agreeably To Your Precepts, Is Preferable To An Eternity Of Error.

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.

To Be Content With What We Possess Is The Greatest And Most Secure Of Riches.

Our Minds Possess By Nature An Insatiable Desire To Know The Truth.

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.

No Sensible Man Ever Imputes Inconsistency To Another For Changing His Minds.

The Contemplation Of Celestial Things Will Make A Man Both Speak And Think More Sublimely And Magnificently When He Descends To Human Affairs.

Freedom Is Participation In Power.

People Do Not Understand What A Great Revenue Economy Is.

To Study Philosophy Is Nothing But To Prepare One’s Self To Die.

It Is Virtue, Virtue, Which Both Creates And Preserves Friendship. On It Depends Harmony Of Interest, Permanence, Fidelity.

Opinionum Enim Commenta Delet Dies; Naturæ Judicia Confirmat. Time Destroys The Groundless Conceits Of Men; It Confirms Decisions Founded On Reality.

For While We Are Enclosed In These Confinements Of The Body, We Perform As A Kind Of Duty The Heavy Task Of Necessity; For The Soul From Heaven Has Been Cast Down From Its Dwelling On High And Sunk, As It Were, Into The Earth, A Place Just The Opposite To Godlike Nature And Eternity. But I Believe That The Immortal Gods Have Sown Souls In Human Bodies So There Might Exist Beings To Guard The World And After Contemplating The Order Of Heaven, Might Imitate It By Their Moderation And Steadfastness In Life.

Things Sacred Should Not Only Be Touched With The Hands, But Unviolated In Thought. [lat., Res Sacros Non Modo Manibus Attingi, Sed Ne Cogitatione Quidem Violari Fas Fuit.]

I Am Not Ashamed To Confess That I Am Ignorant Of What I Do Not Know.

He Cannot Be Strict In Judging, Who Does Not Wish Others To Be Strict Judges Of Himself.

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.

Like Readily Consorts With Like.

It Is A True Saying That 'one Falsehood Easily Leads To Another.'

Honourable Mention Encourages Science, And Merit Is Fostered By Praise.

Man's Life Is Ruled By Fortune, Not By Wisdom.

Diseases Of The Soul Are More Dangerous And More Numerous Than Those Of The Body.

Piety And Holiness Of Life Will Propitiate The Gods. [lat., Deos Placatos Pietas Efficiet Et Sanctitas.]

A Nation Can Survive Its Fools, And Even The Ambitious. But It Cannot Survive Treason From Within.

Do Not Blame Caesar, Blame The People Of Rome Who Have So Enthusiastically Acclaimed And Adored Him And Rejoiced In Their Loss Of Freedom And Danced In His Path And Gave Him Triumphal Processions. Blame The People Who Hail Him When He Speaks In The Forum Of The 'new, Wonderful Good Society' Which Shall Now Be Rome, Interpreted To Mean 'more Money, More Ease, More Security, More Living Fatly At The Expense Of The Industrious.'

There Is No Place More Delightful Than One's Own Fireside. Nullus Est Locus Domestica Sede Jucundior.

Let The Punishment Be Equal With The Offence. [lat., Noxiae Poena Par Esto.]

Thrift Is Of Great Revenue.

Man Is His Own Worst Enemy. [lat., Nihil Inimicius Quam Sibi Ipse.]

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.

We Forget Our Pleasures, We Remember Our Sufferings.

Life Without Learning Is Death.

A Perverse Temper And Fretful Disposition Will Make Any State Of Life Whatsoever Unhappy.

Our Minds Are Rendered Buoyant By Exercise.

A Thankful Heart Is Not Only The Greatest Virtue But The Parent Of All The Other Virtues.

For A Courageous Man Cannot Die Dishonorably, A Man Who Has Attained The Consulship Cannot Die Before His Time, A Philosopher Cannot Die Wretchedly.

They Condemn What They Do Not Understand.

Mental Stains Can Not Be Removed By Time, Nor Washed Away By Any Waters. [lat., Animi Labes Nec Diuturnitate Vanescere Nec Omnibus Ullis Elui Potest.]

No One Sees What Is Before His Feet: We All Gaze At The Stars. [lat., Quod Est Ante Pedes Nemo Spectat: Coeli Scrutantur Plagas.]

Fewer Possess Virtue, Than Those Who Wish Us To Believe That They Possess It.

As I Give Thought To The Matter, I Find Four Causes For The Apparent Misery Of Old Age; First, It Withdraws Us From Active Accomplishments; Second, It Renders The Body Less Powerful; Third, It Deprives Us Of Almost All Forms Of Enjoyment; Fourth, It Stands Not Far From Death.

The Enemy Is Within The Gates; It Is With Our Own Luxury, Our Own Folly, Our Own Criminality That We Have To Contend.

Old Age: The Crown Of Life, Our Play's Last Act.

Memory Is The Receptacle And Sheath Of All Knowledge

Advice In Old Age Is Foolish; For What Can Be More Absurd Than To Increase Our Provisions For The Road The Nearer We Approach To Our Journey's End.

I Have Never Yet Known A Poet Who Did Not Think Himself Super-excellent.

So You See, Old Age Is Really Not So Bad. May You Come To Know The Condition!

The Popular Breeze - Aura Popularis

Enmity Is Anger Watching The Opportunity For Revenge.

It Is The Nature Of Every Person To Error, But Only The Fool Perseveres In Error.

Thou Knowest How Numerous This Tribe Is, How United And How Powerful In The Assemblies. I Will Plead In A Low Voice So That Only The Judges May Hear, For Instigators Are Not Lacking To Stir Up The Crowd Against Me, And Against All The Best Citizens. To Scorn, In The Interest Of The Republic, This Multitude Of Jews So Often Turbulent In The Assemblies Shows A Singular Strength Of Mind. The Money Is In The Treasury; They Do Not Accuse Us Of Theft; They Seek To Stir Up Hatreds.

There Is No Mortal Whom Pain And Disease Do Not Reach.

There Is Nothing Proper About What You Are Doing, Soldier, But Do Try To Kill Me Properly.

I Hear Socrates Saying That The Best Seasoning For Food Is Hunger; For Drink, Thirst.

In Honorable Dealing You Should Consider What You Intended, Not What You Said Or Thought.

While There's Life, There's Hope.

Borrowing From Peter To Pay Paul.

Hunger Is The Best Sauce.

He Who Obeys With Modesty Appears Worthy Of Being Some Day A Commander.

By Hercules! I Prefer To Err With Plato, Whom I Know How Much You Value, Than To Be Right In The Company Of Such Men.

As You Have Sown So Shall You Reap.

So Near Is Falsehood To Truth That A Wise Man Would Do Well Not To Trust Himself On The Narrow Edge.

There Is Nothing Which God Cannot Do. [lat., Nihil Est Quod Deus Efficere Non Possit.]

He Only Employs His Passion Who Can Make No Use Of His Reason.

Friendship Improves Happiness And Abates Misery, By The Doubling Of Our Joy And The Dividing Of Our Grief.

We Are Not Born, We Do Not Live For Ourselves Alone; Our Country, Our Friends, Have A Share In Us.

Nor Am I Ashamed, As Some Are, To Confess My Ignorance Of Those Matters With Which I Am Unacquainted.

That He Who Hath The Loan Of Money Has Not Repaid It, And He Who Has Repaid Has Not The Loan; But He Who Has Acknowledged A Kindness Has It Still, And He Who Has A Feeling Of It Has Requited It.

What We Call Pleasure, And Rightly So Is The Absence Of All Pain.

Death Is Not Natural For A State As It Is For A Human Being, For Whom Death Is Not Only Necessary, But Frequently Even Desirable.

Can There Be Greater Foolishness Than The Respect You Pay To People Collectively When You Despise Them Individually?

As The Grace Of Man Is In The Mind, So The Beauty Of The Mind Is Eloquence.

Not To Be Avaricious Is Money; Not To Be Fond Of Buying Is A Revenue; But To Be Content With Our Own Is The Greatest And Most Certain Wealth Of All.

There Is Nothing Better Fitted To Delight The Reader Than Change Of Circumstances And Varieties Of Fortune.

In A Disturbed Mind, As In A Body In The Same State, Health Can Not Exist.

This Is Our Special Duty, That If Anyone Specially Needs Our Help, We Should Give Him Such Help To The Utmost Of Our Power.

Hatred Is Inveterate Anger.

Too Much Liberty Leads Both Men And Nations To Slavery.

The Diligent Farmer Plants Trees, Of Which He Himself Will Never See The Fruit.

To Remain Ignorant Of History Is To Remain Forever A Child

God's Law Is 'right Reason.' When Perfectly Understood It Is Called 'wisdom.' When Applied By Government In Regulating Human Relations It Is Called 'justice.

It Is Foolish To Tear One's Hair In Grief, As Though Sorrow Would Be Made Less By Baldness.

Virtue Is Its Own Reward.

I Do Not Understand What The Man Who Is Happy Wants In Order To Be Happier.

Wars Are To Be Undertaken In Order That It May Be Possible To Live In Peace Without Molestation.

For Even If The Allotted Space Of Life Be Short, It Is Long Enough In Which To Live Honorably And Well.

The First Law For The Historian Is That He Shall Never Dare Utter An Untruth. The Second Is That He Shall Suppress Nothing That Is True. Moreover, There Shall Be No Suspicion Of Partiality In His Writing, Or Of Malice.

Just What Is The Civil Law? What Neither Influence Can Affect, Nor Power Break, Nor Money Corrupt: Were It To Be Suppressed Or Even Merely Ignored Or Inadequately Observed, No One Would Feel Safe About Anything, Whether His Own Possessions, The Inheritance He Expects From His Father, Or The Bequests He Makes To His Children.

I Am Much Beholden To Old Age, Which Has Increased My Eagerness For Conversation In Proportion As It Has Lessened My Appetites Of Hunger And Thirst.

Hunger And Thirst

The Consciousness Of Good Intention Is The Greatest Solace Of Misfortunes.

Good Intentions

Old Age Is By Nature Rather Talkative.

Friendship Makes Prosperity More Brilliant, And Lightens Adversity By Dividing And Sharing It.

What Is Dignity Without Honesty?

There Is A Difference Between Justice And Consideration In One's Relations To One's Fellow Men. It Is The Function Of Justice Not To Do Wrong To One's Fellow Men Of Considerateness, Not To Wound Their Feelings.

Friendship Is Given Us By Nature, Not To Favor Vice, But To Aid Virtue.

In The Approach To Virtue There Are Many Steps.

No Wise Man Ever Thought That A Traitor Should Be Trusted.

Wars, Therefore, Are To Be Undertaken For This End, That We May Live In Peace, Without Being Injured; But When We Obtain The Victory, We Must Preserve Those Enemies Who Behaved Without Cruelty Or Inhumanity During The War.

No Sober Person Dances.

There Is No Treasure The Which May Be Compared Unto A Faithful Friend; Gold Some Decayeth, And Worldly Wealth Consumeth, And Wasteth In The Winde; But Love Once Planted In A Perfect And Pure Minde Indureth Weale And Woe; The Frownes Of Fortune, Come They Never So Unkinde, Cannot The Same Overthrowe.

As The Scale Of The Balance Must Give Way To The Weight That Presses It Down, So The Mind Must Of Necessity Yield To Demonstration.

He Who Acknowledges A Kindness Has It Still, And He Who Has A Grateful Sense Of It Has Requited It.

Every Word That Is Unnecessary Only Pours Over The Side Of A Brimming Mind.

A S Laws Multiply, Injustice Increases.

Let War Be So Carried On That No Other Object May Seem To Be Sought But The Acquisition Of Peace. [lat., Bellum Autem Ita Suscipiatur, Ut Nihil Aliud, Nisi Pax, Quaesita Videatur.]

What An Ugly Beast The Ape, And How Like Us.

The Leaders Should All Relate To This Principle: The Governed Must Be As Happy As Possible.

The Good Of The People Is The Greatest Law.

It Shows Nobility To Be Willing To Increase Your Debt To A Man To Whom You Already Owe Much.

Hatred Is A Settled Anger.

Religion Is The Pious Worship Of God.

Any Man May Make A Mistake; None But A Fool Will Stick To It. Second Thoughts Are Best As The Proverb Says.

They Are, All Of Them, Born With Raging Fanaticism In Their Hearts, Just As The Bretons And The Germans Are Born With Blond Hair. I Would Not Be In The Least Bit Surprised If These People Would Not Some Day Become Deadly To The Human Race.

The Last Day Does Not Bring Extinction To Us, But Change Of Place. [lat., Supremus Ille Dies Non Nostri Extinctionem Sed Commutationem Affert Loci.]

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.

There Has Never Been A Poet Or Orator Who Thought Another Better Than Himself.

The Precept, "know Yourself," Was Not Solely Intended To Obviate The Pride Of Mankind; But Likewise That We Might Understand Our Own Worth.

Nothing Is So Swift As Calumny, Nothing Is More Easily Propagated, Nothing More Readily Credited, Nothing More Widely Circulated.

The Man Who Is Always Fortunate Cannot Easily Have A Great Reverence For Virtue.

What One Has, One Ought To Use: And Whatever He Does He Should Do With All His Might.

Some Men Make A Womanish Complaint That It Is A Great Misfortune To Die Before Our Time. I Would Ask What Time? Is It That Of Nature? But She, Indeed, Has Lent Us Life, As We Do A Sum Of Money, Only No Certain Day Is Fixed For Payment. What Reason Then To Complain If She Demands It At Pleasure, Since It Was On This Condition That You Received It.

Every Generous Action Loves The Public View; Yet No Theatre For Virtue Is Equal To A Consciousness Of It.

Let Every Man Practise The Trade Which He Best Understands.

Inhumanity Is Harmful In Every Age. - Inhumanitas Omni Aetate Molesta Est

Morals Today Are Corrupted By Our Worship Of Riches.

For No Phase Of Life, Whether Public Or Private, Whether In Business Or In The Home, Whether One Is Working On What Concerns Oneself Alone Or Dealing With Another, Can Be Without Its Moral Duty; On The Discharge Of Such Duties Depends All That Is Morally Right, And On Their Neglect All That Is Morally Wrong In Life.

For There Is But One Essential Justice Which Cements Society, And One Law Which Establishes This Justice. This Law Is Right Reason, Which Is The True Rule Of All Commandments And Prohibitions. Whoever Neglects This Law, Whether Written Or Unwritten, Is Necessarily Unjust And Wicked.

Vivere Est Cogitare. (to Think Is To Live)

All Places Are Filled With Fools. [lat., Stultorum Plenea Sunt Omnia.]

Certain Signs Are The Forerunners Of Certain Events.

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.

It Is The Soul Itself Which Sees And Hears, And Not Those Parts Which Are, As It Were, But Windows To The Soul.

Window To The Soul

So It May Well Be Believed That When I Found Him Taking A Complete Holiday, With A Vast Supply Of Books At Command, He Had The Air Of Indulging In A Literary Debauch, If The Term May Be Applied To So Honorable An Occupation.

Nothing Dries Sooner Than A Tear.

What Fervent Love Of Herself Would Virtue Excite If She Could Be Seen!

Everything Is Alive... Everything Is Interconnected.

Of All Nature's Gifts To The Human Race, What Is Sweeter To A Man Than His Children?

Studies Are The Food Of Youth, The Delight Of Old Age; The Ornament Of Prosperity, The Refuge And Comfort Of Adversity; A Delight At Home, And No Hindrance Abroad; They Are Companions By Night, And In Travel, And In The Country.

Politicians Are Not Born; They Are Excreted.

Fortune, Not Wisdom, Rules Lives.

When Confronted By A Hungry Wolf, It Is Unwise To Goad The Beast, As Cato Would Have Us Do. But It Is Equally Unwise To Imagine The Snarling Animal A Friend And Offer Your Hand, As Pompey Does." "perhaps You Would Have Us Climb A Tree!

Friendship Is Nothing Else Than An Accord In All Things, Human And Divine, Conjoined With Mutual Goodwill And Affection.

The More Virtuous Any Man Is, The Less Easily Does He Suspect Others To Be Vicious.

A Youth Of Sensuality And Intemperance Delivers Over To Old Age A Worn-out Body.

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.

History Illumes Reality, Vitalizes Memory, Provides Guidance In Daily Life

History Of Life

We Must Not Only Obtain Wisdom: We Must Enjoy Her.

Long Life Is Denied Us; Therefore Let Us Do Something To Show That We Have Lived.

Nothing Quite New Is Perfect.

The World Has Not Yet Learned The Riches Of Frugality.

Learning Maketh Young Men Temperate, Is The Comfort Of Old Age, Standing For Wealth With Poverty, And Serving As An Ornament To Riches.

There Is Sufficient Reward In The Mere Consciousness Of A Good Action.

For Surely To Be Wise Is The Most Desirable Thing In All The World.

Persistence In A Single View Has Never Been Regarded As A Merit In Political Leaders.

Let The Punishment Be Proportionate To The Offense.

To Live Long, Live Slowly.

I Prefer The Most Unfair Peace To The Most Righteous War.

All Action Is Of The Mind And The Mirror Of The Mind Is The Face, Its Index The Eyes.

Justice Is The Set And Constant Purpose Which Gives Every Man His Due.

He Who Suffers, Remembers.

Before Beginning, Prepare Carefully.

Physicians, When The Cause Of Disease Is Discovered, Consider That The Cure Is Discovered.

There Is No Duty More Obligatory Than The Repayment Of Kindness.

Prosperity Demands Of Us More Prudence And Moderation Than Adversity.

The Study And Knowledge Of The Universe Would Somehow Be Lame And Defective Were No Practical Results To Follow.

Thus In The Beginning The World Was So Made That Certain Signs Come Before Certain Events.

Friendship Is Nothing Else Than Entire Fellow Feeling As To All Things Human And Divine With Mutual Good-will And Affection; And I Doubt Whether Anything Better Than This, Wisdom Alone Excepted, Has Been Given To Man.

There Is No Moment Without Some Duty.

A Tear Dries Quickly When It Is Shed For Troubles Of Others.

We Don't Believe A Liar Even When He Tells The Truth.

It Is The Stain And Disgrace Of The Age To Envy Virtue, And To Be Anxious To Crush The Very Flower Of Dignity.

Nothing Is So Secure As That Money Will Not Defeat It.

A Wise Man Does Nothing By Constraint.

I Am Of Opinion That There Is Nothing So Beautiful But That There Is Something Still More Beautiful, Of Which This Is The Mere Image And Expression,--a Something Which Can Neither Be Perceived By The Eyes, The Ears, Nor Any Of The Senses; We Comprehend It Merely In The Imagination.

Our Country Is Wherever We Are Well Off. [lat., Patria Est, Ubicunque Est Bene.]

Trending Author

Sherwood Anderson

Category