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Nothing Contributes To The Entertainment Of The Reader More, Than The Change Of Times And The Vicissitudes Of Fortune.

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

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Nothing Contributes To The

Marcus Tullius Cicero

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Nothing Contributes To The Entertainment Of The Reader More, Than The Change Of Times And The Vicissitudes Of Fortune.

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No Man In His Senses Will Dance.

It Is The Peculiar Quality Of A Fool To Perceive The Faults Of Others And To Forget His Own.

The Spirit Is The True Self. The Spirit, The Will To Win, And The Will To Excel Are The Things That Endure.

Inspirational Sports

A Mind Without Instruction Can No More Bear Fruit Than Can A Field, However Fertile, Without Cultivation.

Every Man's Friend Is No Man's Friend.

Modesty Is That Feeling By Which Honorable Shame Acquires A Valuable And Lasting Authority.

Friendship Is Infinitely Better Than Kindness.

For My Own Part, I Had Rather Be Old Only A Short Time Than Be Old Before I Really Am So.

The Foundations Of Justice Are That On One Shall Suffer Wrong; Then, That The Public Good Be Promoted.

Care Should Be Taken That The Punishment Does Not Exceed The Guilt; And Also That Some Men Do Not Suffer For Offenses For Which Others Are Not Even Indicted.

The Aim Of Justice Is To Give Everyone His Due.

Advice Is Judged By Results, Not By Intentions.

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.

In Doubtful Cases The More Liberal Interpretation Must Always Be Preferred.

As A Philosopher, I Have A Right To Ask For A Rational Explanation Of Religious Faith.

War Should Be Undertaken In Such A Way As To Show That Its Only Object Is Peace.

I Prefer Silent Prudence To Loquacious Folly. [lat., Malo Indisertam Prudentiam, Quam Loquacem Stultitiam.]

The Magistrates Are The Ministers For The Laws, The Judges Their Interpreters, The Rest Of Us Are Servants Of The Law, That We All May Be Free.

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 Antiquities.  

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

There Is No One Who Can Give You Wiser Advice Than You Can Give Yourself: You Will Never Make A Slip, If You Listen To Your Own Heart.

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

Nothing Is So Unbelievable That Oratory Cannot Make It Acceptable.

Any Man May Make A Mistake; None But A Fool Will Stick To It. Second Thoughts Are Best As The Proverb Says. [lat., Cujusvis Hominis Est Errare; Nullius, Nisi Insipientis, In Errore Perseverae. Posteriores Enim Cogitationes (ut Aiunt) Sapientiores Solent Esse.]

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

Great Is The Power, Great Is The Authority Of A Senate That Is Unanimous In Its Opinions.

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

Wisdom Is Not Only To Be Acquired, But Enjoyed.

All The Arts Of Refinement Have Mutual Kinship.

Before Beginning, Prepare Carefully.

Glory Follows Virtue As If It Were Its Shadow.

It Is A Strong Proof Of Men Knowing Most Things Before Birth, That When Mere Children They Grasp Innumerable Facts With Such Speed As To Show That They Are Not Then Taking Them In For The First Time, But Are Remembering And Recalling Them.

He Removes The Greatest Ornament Of Friendship Who Takes Away From It Respect.

Genius Is Fostered By Industry.

But As To The Affection Which Anyone May Have For Us, It Is The First Demand Of Duty That We Do Most For Him Who Loves Us Most; But We Should Measure Affection, Not Like Youngsters, By The Ardour Of Its Passion, But Rather By Its Strength And Constancy.

For Many Wish Not So Much To Be, As To Seem To Be, Endowed With Real Virtue.

Let Every Man Practise The Trade Which He Best Understands.

There Is No Duty More Indispensible Than That Of Returning A Kindness.

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.

The Face Is A Picture Of The Mind With The Eyes As Its Interpreter.

The Nobler A Man, The Harder It Is For Him To Suspect Inferiority In Others.

"i Believe That No Characteristic Is So Distinctively Human As The Sense Of Indebtedness We Feel, Not Necessarily For A Favor Received, But Even For The Slightest Evidence Of Kindness; And There Is Nothing So Boorish, Savage, Inhuman As To Appear To Be Overwhelmed By A Favor, Let Alone Unworthy Of It."

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

Superstition Is An Unreasoning Fear Of God.

No One Has Lived A Short Life Who Has Performed Its Duties With Unblemished Character.

Not Cohabitation But Consensus Constitutes Marriage.

It Is Difficult To Remember All, And Ungracious To Omit Any.

Cicero Is Dead! Cicero Is Born! The Laughter Has Filled Me, Filled Me So Very Completely. I Am The Laughter. I Am The Jester. The Soul That Has Served As My Constant Companion For So Long Has Breached The Veil Of The Void Finally And Forever. It Is Now In Me. It Is Me. The World Has Seen The Last Of Cicero The Man. Behold Cicero, Fool Of Hearts - Laughter Incarnate!

Cannot People Realize How Large An Income Is Thrift?

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.

It Is Our Own Evil Thoughts Which Madden Us.

Art Is Born Of The Observation And Investigation Of Nature.

All Great Men Are Partially Inspired.

No Sensible Man (among The Many Things That Have Been Written On This Kind) Ever Imputed Inconsistency To Another For Changing His Mind. [lat., Nemo Doctus Unquam (multa Autem De Hoc Genere Scripta Sunt) Mutationem Consili Inconstantiam Dixit Esse.]

Nothing Contributes To The Entertainment Of The Reader More, Than The Change Of Times And The Vicissitudes Of Fortune.

The Hours Pass And The Days And The Months And The Years, And The Past Time Never Returns.

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.

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

A Mental Stain Can Neither Be Blotted Out By The Passage Of Time Nor Washed Away By Any Waters.

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

I Am Pleased To Be Praised By A Man So Praised As You, Father. [words Used By Hector.] [lat., Laetus Sum Laudari Me Abs Te, Pater, Laudato Viro.]

For He, Indeed, Who Looks Into The Face Of A Friend Beholds, As It Were, A Copy Of Himself.

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

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

It Shows A Brave And Resolute Spirit Not To Be Agitated In Exciting Circumstances.

I Follow Nature As The Surest Guide, And Resign Myself With Implicit Obedience To Her Sacred Ordinances.

That, Senators, Is What A Favour From Gangs Amounts To. They Refrain From Murdering Someone; Then They Boast That They Have Spared Him!

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

You May Never Be Less Alone Than When You Are Alone.

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

He Has No Other Recommendation, Save An Assumed And Crafty Solemnity Of Demeanour.

Recommendations

Even While Jerusalem Was Standing And The Jews Were At Peace With Us, The Practice Of Their Sacred Rites Was At Variance With The Glory Of Our Empire, The Dignity Of Our Name, The Customs Of Our Ancestors.

The Popular Breeze - Aura Popularis

No One Could Ever Meet Death For His Country Without The Hope Of Immortality.

He Does Not Seem To Me To Be A Free Man Who Does Not Sometimes Do Nothing.

For As The Law Is Set Over The Magistrate, Even So Are The Magistrates Set Over The People. And Therefore, It May Be Truly Said, "that The Magistrate Is A Speaking Law, And The Law Is A Silent Magistrate.

People Do Not Understand What A Great Revenue Economy Is.

Virtue Is Increased By The Smile Of Approval; And The Love Of Renown Is The Greatest Incentive To Honourable Acts.

For Every Man's Nature Is Concealed With Many Folds Of Disguise, And Covered As It Were With Various Veils. His Brows, His Eyes, And Very Often His Countenance, Are Deceitful, And His Speech Is Most Commonly A Lie.

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

Do Nothing Twice Over.

We Are Not Born For Ourselves Alone.

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.

No Well-informed Person Has Declared A Change Of Opinion To Be Inconstancy.

No Liberal Man Would Impute A Charge Of Unsteadiness To Another For Having Changed His Opinion.

Every Evil In The Bud Is Easily Crushed: As It Grows Older, It Becomes Stronger.

There Never Was A Great Soul That Did Not Have Some Divine Inspiration.

Divine Inspiration

Laws Are Inoperative In War

While The Sick Man Has Life, There Is Hope.

Time Puts An End To Speculation In Opinions, And Confirms The Laws Of Nature.

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.]

Nobody Can Give You Wiser Advice Than Yourself; You Will Never Err If You Listen To Your Own Suggestions.

Nature Herself Makes The Wise Man Rich.

Virtue Is A Habit Of The Mind, Consistent With Nature And Moderation And Reason.

The Thirst Of Desire Is Never Filled, Nor Fully Satisfied.

The Greater The Difficulty, The Greater The Glory.

It Is A Man's Own Dishonesty, His Crimes, His Wickedness, And Boldness, That Takes Away From Him Soundness Of Mind; These Are The Furies, These The Flames And Firebrands, Of The Wicked.

All I Can Do Is To Urge On You To Regard Friendship As The Greatest Thing In The World; For There Is Nothing Which So Fits In With Our Nature, Or Is So Exactly What We Want In Prosperity Or Adversity.

We Should Never So Entirely Avoid Danger As To Appear Irresolute And Cowardly; But, At The Same Time, We Should Avoid Unnecessarily Exposing Ourselves To Danger, Than Which Nothing Can Be More Foolish.

In All Matters, Before Beginning, A Diligent Preparation Should Be Made.

As I Breathe, I Hope.

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.

Not To Have Knowledge Of What Happened Before You Were Born Is To Be Condemned To Live As A Child.

The Beginnings Of All Things Are Small.

There Is Not A Moment Without Some Duty.

Secret Enmities Are More To Be Feared Than Open Ones.

Let War Yield To Peace, Laurels To Paeans.

Let A Man Practice The Profession Which He Best Knows.

Civilized People Are Taught By Logic, Barbarians, By Necessity, Communities By Tradition; And The Lesson Inculcated Even In Wild Beasts By Nature Itself. They Learn That They Have To Defend Their Own Bodies And Persons Lives From Violence Of Any And Every Kind By All Means Within Their Power.

How Do Our Philosophers Act? Do They Not Inscribe Their Signatures To The Very Essays They Write On The Propriety Of Despising Glory.

The Well-known Old Remark Of Cato, Who Used To Wonder How Two Soothsayers Could Look One Another In The Face Without Laughing.

If Our Lives Are Endangered By Plots Or Violence Or Armed Robbers Or Enemies, Any And Every Method Of Protecting Ourselves Is Morally Right.

Men Ought To Be Most Annoyed By The Sufferings Which Come From Their Own Faults.

If Wisdom Be Attainable, Let Us Not Only Win But Enjoy It.

It Is Difficult To Persuade Mankind That The Love Of Virtue Is The Love Of Themselves.

The Countenance Is The Portrait Of The Soul, And The Eyes Mark Its Intentions.

No One Is So Old That He Does Not Think He Could Live Another Year.

Death Is Dreadful To The Man Whose All Is Extinguished With His Life; But Not To Him Whose Glory Never Can Die.

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

This Excessive Licence, Which The Anarchists Think Is The Only True Freedom, Provides The Stock, As It Were, From Which A Tyrant Grows.

Fire And Water Are Not Of More Universal Use Than Friendship.

An Old Man With Something Of The Youth In Him, May Feel Young In Mind And Heart Only.

Certain Signs Are The Forerunners Of Certain Events.

Quacks Pretend To Cure Other Men's Disorders, But Fail To Find A Remedy For Their Own.

All Men Have A Feeling, That They Would Rather You Told Them A Civil Lie Than Give Them A Point Blank Refusal.... If You Make A Promise, The Thing Is Still Uncertain, Depends On A Future Day, And Concerns But Few People; But If You Refuse You Alienate People To A Certainty And At Once, And Many People Too.

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

A Friend Is, As It Were, A Second Self.

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

Slowly And Imperceptibly Old Age Comes Creeping On.

Nature Has Lent Us Life At Interest, Like Money, And Has Fixed No Day For Its Payment.

It Is Not Enough Merely Possess Virtue, As If It Were An Art; It Should Be Practiced.

Great Inspirational

Sed Nescio Quo Modo Nihil Tam Absurde Dici Potest Quod Non Dicatur Ab Aliquo Philosphorum. (there Is Nothing So Absurd But Some Philosopher Has Said It.)

A Man Would Have No Pleasures In Discovering All The Beauties Of The Universe, Even In Heaven Itself, Unless He Had A Partner To Whom He Might Communicate His Joys.

I Hate All Children Of Precocious Talent.

Summer Lasts Not For Ever; Seasons Succeed Each Other.

A Person Who Is Wise Does Nothing Against Their Will, Nothing With Sighing Or Under Coercion.

If Some Lose Their Whole Fortunes, They Will Drag Many More Down With Them . . . Believe Me That The Whole System Of Credit And Finance Which Is Carried On Here At Rome In The Forum, Is Inextricably Bound Up With The Revenues Of The Asiatic Province. If Those Revenues Are Destroyed, Our Whole System Of Credit Will Come Down With A Crash.

Brevity Is The Best Recommendation Of Speech, Whether In A Senator Or An Orator.

Brevity Of Life

The Purpose Of Education Is To Free The Student From The Tyranny Of The Present.

Purpose Of Education

Let Us Remember That Justice Must Be Observed Even To The Lowest.

That Which Is Usually Called Dotage Is Not The Weak Point Of All Old Men, But Only Of Such As Are Distinguished By Their Levity.

People Don't Know The Value Of What They Have Until It Is Gone: Freedom Suppressed And Again Regained Bites With Keener Fangs Than Freedom Never Endangered.... Liberty Is Rendered Even More Precious By The Recollection Of Servitude. Don't Wait Till Freedom Is Gone Before You Enjoy, Value, Support, Protect And Make The Most Of It!

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.

As In The Case Of Wines That Improve With Age, The Oldest Friendships Ought To Be The Most Delightful.

I Look Upon The Pleasure Which We Take In A Garden As One Of The Most Innocent Delights In Human Life. . . It Gives Us A Great Insight Into The Contrivance And Wisdom Of Nature, And Suggests Innumerable Subjects For Meditation.

When War Is Raging The Laws Are Dumb.

No Poet Or Orator Has Ever Existed Who Believed There Was Any Better Than Himself.

Rashness Is The Companion Of Youth, Prudence Of Old Age.

It Is A Great Thing To Know Your Vices.

Who Can Love The Man He Fears. Or By Who He Thinks He Is Himself Feared?

The Spirit Is The True Self.

"what Greater Gift Can We Offer The Republic Than To Teach And Instruct Our Youth?"

The Searching-out And Thorough Investigation Of Truth Ought To Be The Primary Study Of Man.

Personal Growth

History Is The Teacher Of Life

For How Many Things, Which For Our Own Sake We Should Never Do, Do We Perform For The Sake Of Our Friends.

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.]

Even If You Have Nothing To Write, Write And Say So.

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

What Is Dishonorably Got, Is Dishonorably Squandered.

The Aim Of Forensic Oratory Is To Teach, To Delight, To Move.

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

The More Peculiarly His Own A Man's Character Is, The Better It Fits Him.

For Out Of Such An Ungoverned Populace One Is Usually Chosen As A Leader, Someone Bold And Unscrupulous Who Curries Favor With The People By Giving Them Other Men's Property. To Such A Man The Protection Of Public Office Is Given, And Continually Renewed. He Emerges As A Tyrant Over The Very People Who Raised Him To Power.

Hours And Days And Months And Years Go By; The Past Returns No More, And What Is To Be We Cannot Know; But Whatever The Time Gives Us In Which We Live, We Should Therefore Be Content.

Our Liberality Should Not Exceed Our Ability.

I Do Not Wish To Die: But I Care Not If I Were Dead. [lat., Emori Nolo: Sed Me Esse Mortuum Nihil Aestimo.]

Do Not Hold The Delusion That Your Advancement Is Accomplished By Crushing Others.

Inability To Tell Good From Evil Is The Greatest Worry Of Man's Life.

Grief Is Not In The Nature Of Things, But In Opinion.

The Judgment Of Posterity Is Truer, Because It Is Free From Envy And Malevolence.

There Is No Castle So Strong That It Cannot Be Overthrown By Money.

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

It Is Easy To Distinguish Between The Joking That Reflects Good Breeding And That Which Is Coarse-the One, If Aired At An Apposite Moment Of Mental Relaxation, Is Becoming In The Most Serious Of Men, Whereas The Other Is Unworthy Of Any Free Person, If The Content Is Indecent Or The Expression Obscene.

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.

Let Us Not Listen To Those Who Think We Ought To Be Angry With Our Enemies, And Who Believe This To Be Great And Manly. Nothing Is So Praiseworthy, Nothing So Clearly Shows A Great And Noble Soul, As Clemency And Readiness To Forgive.

Let Art, Then, Imitate Nature, Find What She Desires, And Follow As She Directs. For In Invention Nature Is Never Last, Education Never First; Rather The Beginnings Of Things Arise From Natural Talent, And Ends Are Reached By Discipline.

I Like Myself, But I Won't Say I'm As Handsome As The Bull That Kidnapped Europa.

A Wise Man Does Nothing By Constraint.

While All Other Things Are Uncertain, Evanescent, And Ephemeral, Virtue Alone Is Fixed With Deep Roots; It Can Neither Be Overthrown By Any Violence Or Moved From Its Place.

It Is Exercise Alone That Supports The Spirits, And Keeps The Mind In Vigor.

No Man Should So Act As To Make A Gain Out Of The Ignorance Of Another.

All Soils Are Not Fertile.

There Is No One So Old As To Not Think They May Live A Day Longer.

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

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

Six Mistakes Mankind Keeps Making Century After Century: Believing That Personal Gain Is Made By Crushing Others; Worrying About Things That Cannot Be Changed Or Corrected; Insisting That A Thing Is Impossible Because We Cannot Accomplish It; Refusing To Set Aside Trivial Preferences; Neglecting Development And Refinement Of The Mind; Attempting To Compel Others To Believe And Live As We Do.

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

We Can More Easily Avenge An Injury Than Requite A Kindness; On This Account, Because There Is Less Difficulty In Getting The Better Of The Wicked Than In Making One's Self Equal With The Good.

What Is Becoming Is Honest, And Whatever Is Honest Must Always Be Becoming.

The Name Of Peace Is Sweet, The Thing Itself Is Most Salutary.

What Is More Agreeable Than One's Home?

I Have Always Been Of The Opinion That Unpopularity Earned By Doing What Is Right Is Not Unpopularity At All, But Glory.

Politicians Are Not Born; They Are Excreted.

Take From A Man His Reputation For Probity, And The More Shrewd And Clever He Is, The More Hated And Mistrusted He Becomes.

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

To Stumble Twice Against The Same Stone, Is A Proverbsial Disgrace.

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.

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.

If A Man Aspires To The Highest Place, It Is No Dishonor To Him To Halt At The Second, Or Even At The Third.

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