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We Are Born Poets. We Become Orators.

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

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We Are Born Poets.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

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We Are Born Poets. We Become Orators.

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A S Laws Multiply, Injustice Increases.

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

For If That Last Day Does Not Occasion An Entire Extinction, But A Change Of Abode Only, What Can Be More Desirable? And If It, On The Other Hand, Destroys And Absolutely Puts An End To Us, What Can Be Preferable To Having A Deep Sleep Fall On Us In The Midst Of The Fatigues Of Life And, Being Thus Overtaken, To Sleep To Eternity?

Friendship Is The Only Point In Human Affairs Concerning The Benefit Of Which All, With One Voice, Agree.

Orators Are Most Vehement When Their Cause Is Weak.

Socrates Was The First To Call Philosophy Down From The Heavens And To Place It In Cities, And Even To Introduce It Into Homes And Compel It To Inquire About Life And Standards And Goods And Evils.

It Is Pleasant To Recall Past Troubles.

...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.

When You Wish To Instruct, Be Brief; That Men's [children'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.

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.

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

It Is Foolish To Pluck Out One's Hair For Sorrow, As If Grief Could Be Assuaged By Baldness.

What Is Impossible By The Nature Of Things Is Not Confirmed By Any Law.

Patria Est Communis Omnium Parens. Our Country Is The Common Parent Of All.

Excessive Liberty Leads Both Nations And Individuals Into Excessive Slavery. [lat., Nimia Libertas Et Populis Et Privatis In Nimiam Servitutem Cadit.]

Constant Practice Devoted To One Subject Often Outdoes Both Intelligence And Skill. - Assiduus Usus Uni Rei Deditus Et Ingenium Et Artem Saepe Vincit

The Rule Of Friendship Means There Should Be Mutual Sympathy Between Them, Each Supplying What The Other Lacks And Trying To Benefit The Other, Always Using Friendly And Sincere Words.

In A Discussion Of This Kind Our Interest Should Be Centered Not On The Weight Of The Authority But On The Weight Of The Argument. Indeed The Authority Of Those Who Set Out To Teach Is Often An Impediment To Those Who Wish To Learn. They Cease To Use Their Own Judgment And Regard As Gospel Whatever Is Put Forward By Their Chosen Teacher.

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

The Illustrious And Noble Ought To Place Before Them Certain Rules And Regulations, Not Less For Their Hours Of Leisure And Relaxation Than For Those Of Business.

Rules And Regulations

The Eyes, Like Sentinels, Hold The Highest Place In The Body. [lat., Oculi, Tanquam, Speculatores, Altissimum Locum Obtinent.]

When A Government Becomes Powerful It Is Destructive, Extravagant And Violent; It Is An Usurer Which Takes Bread From Innocent Mouths And Deprives Honorable Men Of Their Substance, For Votes With Which To Perpetuate Itself.

In Anger Nothing Right Nor Judicious Can Be Done.

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

To Wonder At Nothing When It Happens, To Consider Nothing Impossible Before It Has Come To Pass.

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

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.

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

It Is Certain That Memory Contains Not Only Philosophy, But All The Arts And All That Appertain To The Use Of Life.

Dum Spiro, Spero- As Long As I Breathe, I Hope.

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

True Law Is Right Reason In Agreement With Nature;...it Summons To Duty By Its Commands, And Averts From Wrongdoing By Its Prohibitions... It Is A Sin To Try To Alter This Law, Nor Is It Allowable To Attempt To Repeal Any Part Of It, And It Is Impossible To Abolish It Entirely.

I Cease Not To Advocate Peace; Even Though Unjust It Is Better Than The Most Just War.

Never Can Custom Conquer Nature, For She Is Ever Unconquered.

We All Are Imbued With The Love Of Praise.

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

No Tempest Or Conflagration, However Great, Is Harder To Quell Than Mob Carried Away By The Novelty Of Power.

Friendship Embraces Innumerable Ends; Turn Where You Will It Is Ever At Your Side; No Barrier Shuts It Out; It Is Never Untimely And Never In The Way.

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.

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

No One Can Speak Well, Unless He Thoroughly Understands His Subject.

If You Wish To Remove Avarice You Must Remove Its Mother, Luxuries. [lat., Avaritiam Si Tollere Vultis, Mater Ejus Est Tollenda, Luxuries.]

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

Socrates, Indeed, When He Was Asked Of What Country He Called Himself, Said, "of The World"; For He Considered Himself An Inhabitant And A Citizen Of The Whole World.

Nothing So Cements And Holds Together All The Parts Of A Society As Faith Or Credit, Which Can Never Be Kept Up Unless Men Are Under Some Force Or Necessity Of Honestly Paying What They Owe To One Another.

Whatever Is Graceful Is Virtuous, And Whatever Is Virtuous Is Graceful.

More Law, Less Justice.

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

In Men Of The Highest Character And Noblest Genius There Is To Be Found An Insatiable Desire For Honor, Command, Power, And Glory.

There Are Gems Of Thought That Are Ageless And Eternal.

Let The Punishment Match The Offense.

This Seems To Be Advanced As The Surest Basis For Our Belief In The Existence Of Gods, That There Is No Race So Uncivilized, No One In The World So Barbarous That His Mind Has No Inkling Of A Belief In Gods.

Can Any One Find In What Condition His Body Will Be, I Do Not Say A Year Hence, But This Evening?

Care Must Be Taken That The Punishment Does Not Exceed The Offence.

The Authority Of Those Who Teach Is Often An Obstacle To Those Who Want To Learn.

Every Man Should Bear His Own Grievances Rather Than Detract From The Comforts Of Another.

He Takes The Greatest Ornament From Friendship, Who Takes Modesty From It. [lat., Maximum Ornamentum Amicitiae Tollit, Qui Ex Ea Tollit Verecudiam.]

The Habit Of Arguing In Support Of Atheism, Whether It Be Done From Conviction Or In Pretense, Is A Wicked And Impious Practice.

The Real Friend Is Another Self.

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

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

Any Man Can Make A Mistake; Only A Fool Keeps Making The Same One.

Great Is The Power Of Habit. It Teaches Us To Bear Fatigue And To Despise Wounds And Pain.

Through Doubt We Arrive At The Truth.

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

The Law Is Silent During War. [lat., Silent Leges Inter Arma.]

Liberty Is Rendered Even More Precious By The Recollection Of Servitude.

It Is Not By Muscle, Speed, Or Physical Dexterity That Great Things Are Achieved, But By Reflection, Force Of Character, And Judgment.

Words Of Wisdom

What Is Permissible Is Not Always Honorable.

We Learn Nothing From History Except That We Learn Nothing From History.

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

In Everything Truth Surpasses The Imitation And Copy.

Let Every Man Practise The Trade Which He Best Understands.

If The Truth Were Self-evident, Eloquence Would Be Unnecessary.

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

Inspirational Sports

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

Virtue And Decency Are So Nearly Related That It Is Difficult To Separate Them From Each Other But In Our Imagination.

Nulla (enim) Res Tantum Ad Dicendum Proficit, Quantum Scriptio Nothing So Much Assists Learning As Writing Down What We Wish To Remember.

Art Is Born Of The Observation And Investigation Of Nature.

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

I Have Sworn With My Tongue, But My Mind Is Unsworn. [lat., Juravi Lingua, Mentem Injuratem Gero.]

This Is The Part Of A Great Man, After He Has Maturely Weighed All Circumstances, To Punish The Guilty, To Spare The Many, And In Every State Of Fortune Not To Depart From An Upright, Virtuous Conduct.

Anyone Who Has Got A Book Collection/library And A Garden Wants For Nothing.

Summer Lasts Not For Ever; Seasons Succeed Each Other.

While The Sick Man Has Life, There Is Hope.

Robbing Life Of Friendship Is Like Robbing The World Of The Sun.

Borrowing From Peter To Pay Paul.

Those Who Do Not Know History Will Forever Remain Children

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.

Philosophy Is True Mother Of The Arts [of Science].

If The Oarsmen Of A Fast-moving Ship Suddenly Cease To Row, The Suspension Of The Driving Force Of The Oars Doesn't Prevent The Vessel From Continuing To Move On Its Course. And With A Speech It Is Much The Same. After He Has Finished Reciting The Document, The Speaker Will Still Be Able To Maintain The Same Tone Without A Break, Borrowing Its Momentum And Impulse From The Passage He Has Just Read Out.

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

Any Man Can Make Mistakes, But Only An Idiot Persists In His Error.

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

Like Associates With Like.

A Home Without Books Is A Body Without Soul.

The Soul In Sleep Gives Proof Of Its Divine Nature.

In Nothing Do Men More Nearly Approach The Gods Than In Giving Health To Men.

Calamus Fortior Gladio.

That Is Probable Which For The Most Part Usually Comes To Pass, Or Which Is A Part Of The Ordinary Beliefs Of Mankind.

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

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

The Wise Man Knows Nothing If He Cannot Benefit From His Wisdom. Wisdom Is Not Only To Be Acquired, But Also To Be Utilized.

Let War Yield To Peace, Laurels To Paeans.

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

Hatreds Not Vowed And Concealed Are To Be Feared More Than Those Openly Declared.

Vicious Habits Are So Odious And Degrading That They Transform The Individual Who Practices Them Into An Incarnate Demon.

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

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

There Are Two Ways To Resolve Conflicts, Through Violence Or Through Negotiation. Violence Is For Wild Beasts, Negotiation Is For Human Beings.

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.

A Bureaucrat Is The Most Despicable Of Men, Though He Is Needed As Vultures Are Needed, But One Hardly Admires Vultures Whom Bureaucrats So Strangely Resemble. I Have Yet To Meet A Bureaucrat Who Was Not Petty, Dull, Almost Witless, Crafty Or Stupid, An Oppressor Or A Thief, A Holder Of Little Authority In Which He Delights, As A Boy Delights In Possessing A Vicious Dog. Who Can Trust Such Creatures?

I Prefer Tongue-tied Knowledge To Ignorant Loquacity.

Knowing Who You Are

How Much In Love With Himself, And That Too Without A Rival!

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

Friendship Is Not To Be Sought For Its Wages, But Because Its Revenue Consists Entirely In The Love Which It Implies.

The Gods Attend To Great Matters, They Neglect Small Ones.

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

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

A Community Is Like The Ones Who Govern It.

In Times Of War, The Law Falls Silent.

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

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

It Might Be Pardonable To Refuse To Defend Some Men, But To Defend Them Negligently Is Nothing Short Of Criminal.

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?

The Mansion Should Not Be Graced By Its Master, The Master Should Grace The Mansion.

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

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

The Harvest Of Old Age Is The Recollection And Abundance Of Blessing Previously Secured.

Let Us Assume That Entertainment Is The Sole End Of Reading; Even So I Think You Would Hold That No Mental Employment Is So Broadening To The Sympathies Or So Enlightening To The Understanding. Other Pursuits Belong Not To All Times, All Ages, All Conditions; But This Gives Stimulus To Our Youth And Diversion To Our Old Age; This Adds A Charm To Success, And Offers A Haven Of Consolation To Failure. Through The Night-watches, On All Our Journeyings, And In Our Hours Of Ease, It Is Our Unfailing Companion.

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

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.

History Is Truely The Witness Of Times Past, The Light Of Truth, The Life Of Memory, The Teacher Of Life, The Messenger Of Antiquity.

A Man's Own Manner And Character Is What Most Becomes Him.

On The Subject Of The Nature Of The Gods, The First Question Is Do The Gods Exist Or Do The Not? It Is Difficult You May Say To Deny That They Exist. I Would Agree If We Were Arguing The Matter In A Public Assembly, But In A Private Discussion Of This Kind, It Is Perfectly Easy To Do So.

In Everything Satiety Closely Follows The Greatest Pleasures.

Pleasures Of Life

For Books Are More Than Books, They Are The Life, The Very Heart And Core Of Ages Past, The Reason Why Men Worked And Died, The Essence And Quintessence Of Their Lives.

Courage Is Virtue Which Champions The Cause Of Right.

A Man Of Courage Is Also Full Of Faith.

There Is Nothing God Cannot Do.

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

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

Please Go On, Make Your Threats. I Don't Like To Submit To Mere Implication.

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

To Stumble Twice Against The Same Stone, Is A Proverbial Disgrace. [lat., Culpa Enim Illa, Bis Ad Eundem, Vulgari Reprehensa Proverbio Est.]

Longing Not So Much To Change Things As To Overturn Them.

When Time And Need Require, We Should Resist With All Our Might, And Prefer Death To Slavery And Disgrace.

Peace Is So Beneficial That The Word Itself Is Pleasant To Hear.

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

The Best Armour Of Old Age Is A Well Spent Life Preceding It; A Life Employed In The Pursuit Of Useful Knowledge, In Honourable Actions And The Practice Of Virtue; In Which He Who Labours To Improve Himself From His Youth, Will In Age Reap The Happiest Fruits Of Them; Not Only Because These Never Leave A Man, Not Even In The Extremest Old Age; But Because A Conscience Bearing Witness That Our Life Was Well-spent, Together With The Remembrance Of Past Good Actions, Yields An Unspeakable Comfort To The Soul

It Is A Great Thing To Know Your Vices.

What Is Thine Is Mine, And All Mine Is Thine.

When I Consider The Wonderful Activity Of The Mind, So Great A Memory Of What Is Past, And Such A Capacity Of Penetrating Into The Future: When I Behold Such A Number Of Arts And Sciences, And Such A Multitude Of Discoveries Hence Arising,--i Believe And Am Firmly Persuaded That A Nature Which Contains So Many Things Within Itself Cannot Be Mortal.

Man's Best Support Is A Very Dear Friend.

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

Nothing Troubles You For Which You Do Not Yearn.

To Live Long It Is Necessary To Live Slowly.

The Swan Is Not Without Cause Dedicated To Apollo, Because Foreseeing His Happiness In Death, He Dies With Singing And Pleasure.

Thrift Is Of Great Revenue.

No Man Can Be Brave Who Thinks Pain The Greatest Evil; Nor Temperate, Who Considers Pleasure The Highest Good.

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

We Are All Excited By The Love Of Praise, And The Noblest Are Most Influenced By Glory.

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.

Trust No One Unless You Have Eaten Much Salt With Him.

They Are Eloquent Who Can Speak Low Things Acutely, And Of Great Things With Dignity, And Of Moderate Things With Temper.

The Life Given Us, By Nature Is Short; But The Memory Of A Well-spent Life Is Eternal.

There Are No True Friends In Politics.

No True Friends

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

To Remain Ignorant Of History Is To Remain Forever A Child

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.

To Freemen, Threats Are Impotent. [lat., Nulla Enim Minantis Auctoritas Apud Liberos Est.]

Rashness Belongs To Youth; Prudence To Old Age.

Where Is There Dignity Unless There Is Honesty?

No One Has The Right To Be Sorry For Himself For A Misfortune That Strikes Everyone.

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

Let Every Man Practice The Art That He Knows Best.

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.

In The Approach To Virtue There Are Many Steps.

It Is As Hard For The Good To Suspect Evil, As It Is For The Bad To Suspect Good.

Everyone Cleaves To The Doctrine He Has Happened Upon, As To A Rock Against Which He Has Been Thrown By Tempest.

The First Bond Of Society Is Marriage.

Friendship Is The Only Thing In The World Concerning The Usefulness Of Which All Mankind Are Agreed.

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

Crimes Are Not To Be Measured By The Issue Of Events, But By The Bad Intentions Of Men.

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.

Let The Soldier Yield To The Civilian.

The Whole Life Of A Philosopher Is The Meditation Of His Death.

The Foolishness Of Old Age Does Not Characterize All Who Are Old, But Only The Foolish.

A Careful Physician . . . Before He Attempts To Administer A Remedy To His Patient, Must Investigate Not Only The Malady Of The Man He Wishes To Cure, But Also His Habits When In Health, And His Physical Constitution.

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

A Dissolute And Intemperate Youth Hands Down The Body To Old Age In A Worn-out State.

There Is No Grief Which Time Does Not Lessen And Soften.

Study Carefully, The Character Of The One You Recommend, Lest Their Misconduct Bring You Shame.

The Devil Finds Work For Idle Hands To Do. Better To Reign In The Hell Than Serve In Heaven. We Are In Bondage To The Law In Order That We May Be Free.

There Is, I Know Not How, A Certain Presage, As It Were, Of A Future Existence; And This Takes The Deepest Root, And Is Most Discoverable, In The Greatest Geniuses And Most Exalted Souls.

Wisdom Is The Only Thing Which Can Relieve Us From The Sway Of The Passions And The Fear Of Danger, And Which Can Teach Us To Bear The Injuries Of Fortune Itself With Moderation, And Which Shows Us All The Ways Which Lead To Tranquility And Peace.

Nothing Is Difficult In The Eyes Of A Lover.

I Am A Roman Citizen.

Freedom Is A Possession Of Inestimable Value.

Extreme Justice Is Extreme Injustice.

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