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We Do Not Destroy Religion By Destroying Superstition.

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

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We Do Not Destroy

Marcus Tullius Cicero

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We Do Not Destroy Religion By Destroying Superstition.

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Everyone Has His Besetting Sin.

In Fact The Whole Passion Ordinarily Termed Love (and Heaven Help Me If I Can Think Of Any Other Term To Apply To It) Is Of Such Exceeding Triviality That I See Nothing That I Think Comparable With It.

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.

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

Nothing Is So Strongly Fortified That It Cannot Be Taken By Money.

Few Are Those Who Wish To Be Endowed With Virtue Rather Than To Seem So.

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

Let Us Drink For The Replenishment Of Our Strength, Not For Our Sorrow

War Leads To Peace. [lat., Cedant Arma Togae.]

There Is No Being Of Any Race Who, If He Finds The Proper Guide, Cannot Attain To Virtue.

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

Wisdom Is Not Only To Be Acquired, But Enjoyed.

Let Arms Give Place To The Robe, And The Laurel Of The Warriors Yield To The Tongue Of The Orator.

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

Habit Is, As It Were, A Second Nature. [lat., Consuetudo Quasi Altera Natura Effici.]

Borrowing From Peter To Pay Paul.

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

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

When You Have No Basis For An Argument, Abuse The Plaintiff.

The Soil Of Their Native Land Is Dear To All The Hearts Of Mankind.

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

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.

But The Night Mother Is Mother To All! It Is Her Voice We Follow! Her Will! Would You Dare Risk Disobedience? And Surely... Punishment?

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

Inspirational Sports

Hatred Is A Settled Anger.

Nature Abhors Annihilation.

If A Man Could Mount To Heaven And Survey The Mighty Universe, His Admiration Of Its Beauties Would Be Much Diminished Unless He Had Someone To Share In His Pleasure.

A Thankful Heart Is The Greatest Virtue.

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

Divine Inspiration

What Sweetness Is Left In Life, If You Take Away Friendship? Robbing Life Of Friendship Is Like Robbing The World Of The Sun. A True Friend Is More To Be Esteemed Than Kinsfolk.

But In Every Matter The Consensus Of Opinion Among All Nations Is To Be Regarded As The Law Of Nature.

More Law, Less Justice.

I Remember The Very Thing That I Do Not Wish To; I Cannot Forget The Things I Wish To Forget.

There Is Nothing God Cannot Do.

Nothing Is So Unbelievable That Oratory Cannot Make It Acceptable.

Let Flattery, The Handmaid Of The Vices, Be Far Removed (from Friendship). [lat., Assentatio, Vitiorum Adjutrix, Procul Amoveatur.]

Endless Money Forms The Sinews Of War. [lat., Nervi Belli Pecunia Infinita.]

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.

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

The Man Who Commands Efficiently Must Have Obeyed Others In The Past, And The Man Who Obeys Dutifully Is Worthy Of Someday Being A Commander.

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

To Disregard What The World Thinks Of Us Is Not Only Arrogant But Utterly Shameless. [lat., Negligere Quid De Se Quisque Sentiat, Non Solum Arrogantis Est, Sed Etiam Omnino Dissoluti.]

Superstition Is An Unreasoning Fear Of God.

Pleasant Is The Recollection Of Dangers Past.

Reason Should Direct, And Appetite Obey.

Freedom Is Participation In Power.

He Has No Worse Enemy Than Himself.

When You Are Aspiring To The Highest Place, It Is Honorable To Reach The Second Or Even The Third Rank.

Let Each Man Have According To His Deserts.

Every Man Can Tell How Many Goats Or Sheep He Possesses, But Not How Many Friends.

The Function Of Wisdom Is To Discriminate Between Good And Evil.

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

All Great Men Are Partially Inspired.

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

These (literary) Studies Are The Food Of Youth, And Consolation Of Age; They Adorn Prosperity, And Are The Comfort And Refuge Of Adversity; They Are Pleasant At Home, And Are No Incumbrance Abroad; They Accompany Us At Night, In Our Travels, And In Our Rural Retreats.

Nature Has Inclined Us To Love Men.

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

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.]

Politicians Are Not Born; They Are Excreted.

Poor Is The Nation That Has No Heroes, But Poorer Still Is The Nation That Having Heroes, Fails To Remember And Honor Them.

I Am Of The Opinion Which You Have Always Held, That "viva Voce" Voting At Elections Is The Best Method. [lat., Nam Ego In Ista Sum Sententia, Qua Te Fuisse Semper Scio, Nihil Ut Feurit In Suffragiis Voce Melius.]

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.

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

An Unjust Peace Is Better Than A Just War.

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

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

Just As The Soul Fills The Body, So God Fills The World. Just As The Soul Bears The Body, So God Endures The World. Just As The Soul Sees But Is Not Seen, So God Sees But Is Not Seen. Just As The Soul Feeds The Body, So God Gives Food To The World.

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.

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

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

Great Inspirational

Peace Is Freedom In Tranquility.

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

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

It Is Graceful In A Man To Think And To Speak With Propriety, To Act With Deliberation, And In Every Occurrence Of Life To Find Out And Persevere In The Truth. On The Other Hand, To Be Imposed Upon, To Mistake, To Falter, And To Be Deceived, Is As Ungraceful As To Rave Or To Be Insane.

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

In Ancient Times Music Was The Foundation Of All The Sciences. Education Was Begun With Music With The Persuasion That Nothing Could Be Expected Of A Man Who Was Ignorant Of Music.

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

A Home Without Books Is A Body Without Soul.

Saving The Virtues Includes All Other Advantages

Pardon Is Granted To Necessity.

Your Enemies Can Kill You, But Only Your Friends Can Hurt You.

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

The World Has Not Yet Learned The Riches Of Frugality.

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

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

Strain Every Nerve To Gain Your Point.

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

All Soils Are Not Fertile.

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

Diligence Which, As It Avails In All Things, Is Also Of The Utmost Moment In Pleading Causes. Diligence Is To Be Particularly Cultivated By Us; It Is To Be Constantly Exerted; It Is Capable Of Effecting Almost Everything.

Mathematics Is An Obscure Field, An Abstruse Science, Complicated And Exact; Yet So Many Have Attained Perfection In It That We Might Conclude Almost Anyone Who Seriously Applied Himself Would Achieve A Measure Of Success.

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

We Are Born Poets. We Become Orators.

There Are Gems Of Thought That Are Ageless And Eternal.

Not To Know What Happened Before Means To Remain Forever A Child.

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

He Who Hangs On The Errors Of The Ignorant Multitude, Must Not Be Counted Among Great Men.

A War Is Never Undertaken By The Ideal State, Except In Defense Of Its Honor Or Its Safety.

Men Of Different Tastes Have Different Pursuits.

No One Has Leave To Sin.

Other Relaxations Are Peculiar To Certain Times, Places And Stages Of Life, But The Study Of Letters Is The Nourishment Of Our Youth, And The Joy Of Our Old Age. They Throw An Additional Splendor On Prosperity, And Are The Resource And Consolation Of Adversity; They Delight At Home, And Are No Embarrassment Abroad; In Short, They Are Company To Us At Night, Our Fellow Travelers On A Journey, And Attendants In Our Rural Recesses.

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

A Wise Man Does Nothing By Constraint.

I Wonder That A Soothsayer Doesn't Laugh Whenever He Sees Another Soothsayer.

Let Every Man Practise The Trade Which He Best Understands.

If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written A Shorter Letter.

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

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

By Doubting We Come At Truth.

Our Span Of Life Is Brief, But Is Long Enough For Us To Live Well And Honestly.

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

Pleasure Blinds (so To Speak) The Eyes Of The Mind, And Has No Fellowship With Virtue.

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

We Are Obliged To Respect, Defend And Maintain The Common Bonds Of Union And Fellowship That Exist Among All Members Of The Human Race.

He Who Has Once Deviated From The Truth, Usually Commits Perjury With As Little Scruple As He Would Tell A Lie.

Too Much Liberty Leads Both Men And Nations To Slavery.

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.

No Grief Is So Acute But Time Ameliorates It.

If You Pursue Good With Labor, The Labor Passes Away But The Good Remains; If You Pursue Evil With Pleasure, The Pleasure Passes Away And The Evil Remains.

Making A Difference

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

Let The Soldier Yield To The Civilian.

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

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.

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.

What Is Dishonestly Got Vanishes In Profligacy.

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

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

Little By Little Old Age Renders The Body Less Powerful.

The First Duty Of Man Is The Seeking After And The Investigation Of Truth.

The Hope Of Impunity Is The Greatest Inducement To Do Wrong.

As I Breathe, I Hope.

The Multitude Of Fools Is A Protection To The Wise.

The Most Desirable Thing In Life After Health And Modest Means Is Leisure With Dignity.

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

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.]

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

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

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.

Life Is Short, But Art Lives Forever.

As I Approve Of A Youth That Has Something Of The Old Man In Him, So I Am No Less Pleased With An Old Man That Has Something Of The Youth. He That Follows This Rule May Be Old In Body, But Can Never Be So In Mind.

Certain Signs Precede Certain Events.

The Mere Act Of Believing That Some Wrongful Course Of Action Constitutes An Advantage Is Pernicious.

There Were Poets Before Homer.

We Are Not Born For Ourselves Alone.

Taxes Are The Sinews Of The State.

I Am A Roman Citizen.

No Man Can Be Brave Who Thinks Pain The Greatest Evil; Nor Temperate, Who Considers Pleasure The Highest God. [lat., Fortis Vero, Dolorem Summum Malum Judicans; Aut Temperans, Voluptatem Summum Bonum Statuens, Esse Certe Nullo Modo Potest.]

We Do Not Destroy Religion By Destroying Superstition.

Let A Man Practice The Profession Which He Best Knows.

From All Sides There Is Equally A Way To The Lower World.

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

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.  

It Is Not Only Arrogant, But It Is Profligate, For A Man To Disregard The World's Opinion Of Himself.

Promises Are Not To Be Kept, If The Keeping Of Them Is To Prove Harmful To Those To Whom You Have Made Them.

While There's Life, There's Hope.

An Army Abroad Is Of Little Use Unless There Are Prudent Counsels At Home. [lat., Parvi Enim Sunt Foris Arma, Nisi Est Consilium Domi.]

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.

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

. . . For Until That God Who Rules All The Region Of The Sky . . . Has Freed You From The Fetters Of Your Body, You Cannot Gain Admission Here. Men Were Created With The Understanding That They Were To Look After That Sphere Called Earth, Which You See In The Middle Of The Temple. Minds Have Been Given To Them Out Of The Eternal Fires You Call Fixed Stars And Planets, Those Spherical Solids Which, Quickened With Divine Minds, Journey Through Their Circuits And Orbits With Amazing Speed.

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

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.

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.

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

There Is In Superstition A Senseless Fear Of God; Religion Consists In The Pious Worship Of Him.

To Add A Library To A House Is To Give That House A Soul.

Nature Loves Nothing Solitary, And Always Reaches Out To Something, As A Support, Which Ever In The Sincerest Friend Is Most Delightful.

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.

The Chief Recommendation Is Modesty, Then Dutiful Conduct Toward Parents, Then Affection For Kindred.

The Science Of Love Is The Philosophy Of The Heart

Of All The Rewards Of Virtue, . . . The Most Splendid Is Fame, For It Is Fame Alone That Can Offer Us The Memory Of Posterity.

Nothing Stands Out So Conspicuously, Or Remains So Firmly Fixed In The Memory, As Something Which You Have Blundered.

To Be Endowed With Strength By Nature, To Be Actuated By The Powers Of The Mind, And To Have A Certain Spirit Almost Divine Infused Into You.

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

I Never Heard Of An Old Man Forgetting Where He Had Buried His Money. Old People Remember What Interests Them: The Dates Fixed For Their Lawsuits, And The Names Of Their Debtors And Creditors.

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

Not Cohabitation But Consensus Constitutes Marriage.

The Great Theatre For Virtue Is Conscience.

Within The Character Of The Citizen, Lies The Welfare Of The Nation.

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

As Fire When Thrown Into Water Is Cooled Down And Put Out, So Also A False Accusation When Brought Against A Man Of The Purest And Holiest Character, Boils Over And Is At Once Dissipated, And Vanishes.

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

We Must Not Say That Every Mistake Is A Foolish One.

This Is A Proof Of A Well-trained Mind, To Rejoice In What Is Good And To Grieve At The Opposite.

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

All Literature, All Philosophical Treatises, All The Voices Of Antiquity Are Full Of Examples For Imitation, Which Would All Lie Unseen In Darkness Without The Light Of Literature.

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

Here Is A Man Whose Life And Actions The World Has Already Condemned - Yet Whose Enormous Fortune...has Already Brought Him Acquittal!

The Rabble Estimate Few Things According To Their Real Value, Most Things According To Their Prejudices.

A Thankful Heart Is Not Only The Greatest Virtue, But The Parent Of All The Other Virtues. [lat., Gratus Animus Est Una Virtus Non Solum Maxima, Sed Etiam Mater Virtutum Onmium Reliquarum.]

Leisure With Dignity.

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.

Orators Are Most Vehement When They Have The Weakest Cause, As Men Get On Horseback When They Cannot Walk.

The Greater The Difficulty, The Greater The Glory.

Friendship Was Given By Nature To Be An Assistant To Virtue, Not A Companion In Vice.

For There Is Assuredly Nothing Dearer To A Man Than Wisdom, And Though Age Takes Away All Else, It Undoubtedly Brings Us That.

Apollo, Sacred Guard Of Earth's True Core, Whence First Came Frenzied, Wild Prophetic Word.

Let Every Man Practice The Art That He Knows Best.

Honor Is The Reward Of Virtue.

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

It Is Better To Receive Than To Do Injury.

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