Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.

If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.

In nothing do humans approach so nearly to the gods as doing good to others.

The human mind ever longs for occupation.

Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable longing to see the truth.

I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war.

In everything truth surpasses the imitation and copy.

Anyone may fairly seek his own advantage, but no one has a right to do so at another's expense.

Freedom is a man's natural power of doing what he pleases, so far as he is not prevented by force or law.

Men do not realize how great an income thrift is.

The authors who affect contempt for a name in the world put their names to the books which they invite the world to read.

What is becoming is honest, and whatever is honest must always be becoming.

Inability to tell good from evil is the greatest worry of man's life.

I like myself, but I won't say I'm as handsome as the bull that kidnapped Europa.

To know the laws is not to memorize their letter but to grasp their full force and meaning.

The spirit is the true self. The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure.

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.

Orators are most vehement when they have the weakest cause, as men get on horseback when they cannot walk.

A home without books is a body without soul.

Strain every nerve to gain your point.

Man was born for two things--thinking and acting.

Virtue is its own reward.

The wise man never loses his temper.

The aim of justice is to give everyone his due.

Our thoughts are free.

There is no opinion so stupid that it can't be expressed by some philosopher.

Through doubt we arrive at the truth.

Any man is liable to err, only a fool persists in error.

The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.

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.

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.

Not to know what happened before one was born is always to be a child.

To some extent I liken slavery to death.

Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.

If I err in belief that the souls of men are immortal, I gladly err, nor do I wish this error which gives me pleasure to be wrested from me while I live.

Our minds are rendered buoyant by exercise.

Every generous action loves the public view; yet no theatre for virtue is equal to a consciousness of it.

Dogs wait for us faithfully.

It shows a brave and resolute spirit not to be agitated in exciting circumstances.

So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.

The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter.

Every animal loves itself.

Fire and water are not of more universal use than friendship.

Love is the attempt to form a friendship inspired by beauty.

It is virtue, virtue, which both creates and preserves friendship. On it depends harmony of interest, permanence, fidelity.

Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is the nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them.

People do not understand what a great revenue economy is.

The higher our position the more modestly we should behave.