Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman Statesman, philosopher, lawyer and political theorist who lived from 106 BC to 43 BC. He is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. He was a major influence on the development of political thought in the Western world, and his writings are still studied today. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Marcus Tullius Cicero on law, oratorical, influential.
Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labor; read as one goes in; read as one goest out. The task of the educated mind is simply put: read to lead.
Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.
Marcus Tullius Cicero inspirational quote
Marcus Tullius Cicero Image Quotes
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
A room without books is like a body without a soul. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Knowledge which is divorced from justice, may be called cunning rather than wisdom.
Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes About Law
Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that very liberty. Our Constitution speaks of the "general welfare of the people." Under that phrase all sorts of excesses can be employed by lusting tyrants to make us bondsmen. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Laws are silent in time of war. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Law stands mute in the midst of arms. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
More law, less justice. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Strict law is often great injustice. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Let the welfare of the people be the ultimate law. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The safety of the people shall be the highest law. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
But in every matter the consensus of opinion among all nations is to be regarded as the law of nature. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes About Mind
The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
As the grace of man is in the mind, so the beauty of the mind is eloquence. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The diseases of the mind are more and more destructive than those of the body.
[Lat., Morbi perniciores pluresque animi quam corporis.] — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The face is a picture of the mind with the eyes as its interpreter. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
In a disordered mind, as in a disordered body, soundness of health is impossible. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
In so far as the mind is stronger than the body, so are the ills contracted by the mind more severe than those contracted by the body. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes About Life
The life of the dead is placed on the memories of the living. The love you gave in life keeps people alive beyond their time. Anyone who was given love will always live on in another's heart. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history? — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
While there's life, there's hope. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Life is nothing without friendship. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Long life is denied us; therefore let us do something to show that we have lived. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
If we lose affection and kindliness from our life: we lose all that gives it charm. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
While the sick man has life, there is hope. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes About Live
Wars are to be undertaken in order that it may be possible to live in peace without molestation. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
No one is so old as to think he cannot live one more year. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The only excuse for war is that we may live in peace unharmed. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Life is short, but art lives forever. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Fortune, not wisdom, rules lives. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
No one is so old that he does not think he could live another year. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Our character is not so much the product of race and heredity as of those circumstances by which nature forms our habits, by which we are nurtured and live. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes About Body
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
A home without books is a body without soul. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A sensual and intemperate youth hands over a worn-out body to old age.
[Lat., Libidinosa etenim et intemperans adolescentiam effoetum corpus tradit senectuti.] — Marcus Tullius Cicero
In a disturbed mind, as in a body in the same state, health can not exist. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The eyes like sentinel occupy the highest place in the body. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The eyes, like sentinels, hold the highest place in the body.
[Lat., Oculi, tanquam, speculatores, altissimum locum obtinent.] — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A youth of sensuality and intemperance delivers over to old age a worn-out body. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A sensual and intemperate youth translates into an old worn-out body. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Justice is the crowning glory of the virtues. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
It is difficult to persuade mankind that the love of virtue is the love of themselves. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Whatever is done without ostentation, and without the people being witnesses of it, is, in my opinion, most praiseworthy: not that the public eye should be entirely avoided, for good actions desire to be placed in the light; but notwithstanding this, the greatest theater for virtue is conscience. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Virtue and decency are so nearly related that it is difficult to separate them from each other but in our imagination. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect others to be vicious. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all the other virtues. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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.] — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A thankful heart is the greatest virtue. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero Famous Quotes And Sayings
A room without books is like a body without a soul. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Jews belong to a dark and repulsive force. One knows how numerous this clique is, how they stick together and what power they exercise through their unions. They are a nation of rascals and deceivers. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Freedom is a possession of inestimable value. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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! — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Not cohabitation but consensus constitutes marriage. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Take from a man his reputation for probity, and the more shrewd and clever he is, the more hated and mistrusted he becomes. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
They condemn what they do not understand. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The budget should be balanced, the treasury refilled, public debt reduced, the arrogance of officialdom tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Study carefully, the character of the one you recommend, lest their misconduct bring you shame. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A man of courage is also full of faith. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Great is our admiration of the orator who speaks with fluency and discretion. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
An unjust peace is better than a just war. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The home is the empire! There is no peace more delightful than one's own fireplace. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
While there's life, there's hope. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens but not foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which benevolence and justice would perish forever. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offense. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage. The mere act of believing that some wrongful course of action constitutes an advantage is pernicious. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A friend is, as it were, a second self. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
We are obliged to respect, defend and maintain the common bonds of union and fellowship that exist among all members of the human race. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
There is no duty more obligatory than the repayment of kindness. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
We are motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is the more he is inspired by glory. The very philosophers themselves, even in those books which they write in contempt of glory, inscribe their names. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
We should be careful that our benevolence does not exceed our means. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The pursuit, even of the best things, ought to be calm and tranquil. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
You will be as much value to others as you have been to yourself. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Friends, though absent, are still present. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A community is like the ones who govern it. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
It is the nature of every person to error, but only the fool perseveres in error. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
I criticize by creation - not by finding fault. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Whatever is graceful is virtuous, and whatever is virtuous is graceful. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Any man may make a mistake; none but a fool will stick to it. Second thoughts are best as the proverb says. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Be a pattern to others and then all will go well. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
I am not ashamed to confess I am ignorant of what I do not know. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
We should be as careful of our words as of our actions. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Most happy is he who is entirely self-reliant, and who centers all his requirements in himself alone. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
To freemen, threats are impotent.
[Lat., Nulla enim minantis auctoritas apud liberos est.] — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A letter does not blush. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Brevity is a great charm of eloquence. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Freedom suppressed and again regained bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
In friendship we find nothing false or insincere; everything is straight forward, and springs from the heart. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Ability without honor is useless. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Frivolity is inborn, conceit acquired by education. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
The aim of forensic oratory is to teach, to delight, to move. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
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. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
A man's own manner and character is what most becomes him. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero taught that wisdom is the greatest virtue, and that it is only through knowledge and understanding that one can achieve true greatness.
He believed that the pursuit of knowledge and understanding should be a lifelong endeavor, and that one should always strive to learn and grow.
He also taught that the key to success is to be honest, honorable, and to remain true to one's beliefs and principles.
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