Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) Quotes, Quotations, and Sayings

169 Famous Quotes by Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero)
“Fewer possess virtue, than those who wish us to believe that they possess it. [Lat., Virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse, quam videri volunt.]”
Virtue Quotes
Source: De Amicitia (XXVI)
“The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he suspect others to be vicious. [Lat., Nam ut quisque est vir optimus, ita difficillime esse alios improbos suspicatur.]”
Virtue Quotes
Source: Epistoloe Ad Fratrem (I, 1)
“It is the stain and disgrace of the age to envy virtue, and to be anxious to crush the very flower of dignity. [Lat., Est haec saeculi labes quaedam et macula virtuti invidere, velle ipsum florem dignitatis infringere.]”
Virtue Quotes
Source: Gratio Pro Lucio Cornelio Balbo (VI)
“In the approach to virtue there are many steps. [Lat., In virtute sunt multi adscensus.]”
Virtue Quotes
Source: Oratio Pro Cnoeo Plancio (XXV)
“Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason.”
Virtue Quotes
Source: Rhetorical Invention (bk. II, sc. LIII)
“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.]”
Bravery Quotes
Source: De Officiis (I, 2)
“In honorable dealing you should consider what you intended, not what you said or thought. [Lat., Semper in fide quid senseris, non quid dixeris, cogitandum.]”
Honor Quotes
Source: De Officiis (I, 13)
“There is no praise in being upright, where no one can, or tries to corrupt you. [Lat., Nulla est laus ibi esse integrum, ubi nemo est, qui aut possit aut conetur rumpere.]”
Honor Quotes
Source: In Verrem (II, 1, 16)
“Prudence is the knowledge of things to be sought, and those to be shunned.”
Prudence Quotes
Source: De Officiis (I, 43)
“I prefer silent prudence to loquacious folly. [Lat., Malo indisertam prudentiam, quam loquacem stultitiam.]”
Prudence Quotes
Source: De Oratore (III, 35)
“Precaution is better than cure. [Lat., Praestat cautela quam medela.]”
Prudence Quotes
Source: De Oratore (III, 35)
“Can any one find in what condition his body will be, I do not say a year hence, but this evening? [Lat., An id exploratum cuiquam potest esse, quomodo sese habitarum sit corpus, non dico ad annum sed ad vesperam?]”
Change Quotes
Source: De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (II, 228)
“Longing not so much to change things as to overturn them. [Lat., Non tam commutandarum, quam evertendarum rerum cupidi.]”
Change Quotes
Source: De Officiis (II, 1)
“There is nothing better fitted to delight the reader than change of circumstances and varieties of fortune. [Lat., Nihil est aptius delectationem lectoris quam temporum varietates fortunaeque vicissitudines.]”
Change Quotes
Source: Epistles (V, 12)
“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.]”
Change Quotes
Source: Epistoloe ad Atticum (XVI, 7, 3)
“Nature abhors annihilation. [Lat., Ab interitu naturam abhorrere.]”
Nature Quotes
Source: De Finibus (V, 11, 3)
“Things perfected by nature are better than those finished by art. [Lat., Meliora sunt ea quae natura quam illa quae arte perfecta sunt.]”
Nature Quotes
Source: De Natura Deorum (II, 34)
“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.”
Youth Quotes
Source: Cato; or, An Essay on Old Age
“The chief recommendation [in a young man] is modesty, then dutiful conduct toward parents, then affection for kindred. [Lat., Prima commendiato proficiscitur a modestia tum pietate in parentes, tum in suos benevolentia.]”
Youth Quotes
Source: De Officiis (II, 13)
“Man is his own worst enemy. [Lat., Nihil inimicius quam sibi ipse.]”
Enemies Quotes
Source: Epistoloe ad Atticum (X, 12a, sec. III)
“Let our friends perish, provided that our enemies fall at the same time. [Lat., Pereant amici, dum una inimici intercidant.]”
Enemies Quotes
Source: Oratio Pro Rege Deitaro (IX)
“Let flattery, the handmaid of the vices, be far removed (from friendship). [Lat., Assentatio, vitiorum adjutrix, procul amoveatur.]”
Flattery Quotes
Source: De Amicitia (XXIV)
“Not to be avaricious is money; not to be fond of buying is a revenue; but to be content with our own is the greatest and most certain wealth of all. [Lat., Non esse cupidum, pecunia est; non esse emacem, vectigal est; contentum vero suis rebus esse, maximae sunt, certissimaeque divitiae.]”
Wealth Quotes
Source: Paradoxa (6, 3)
“I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker. The example of great and pure individuals is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and irresistibly invites abuse. Can anyone imagine M anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?”
Wealth Quotes
Source: Paradoxa (6, 3)
“In prosperity let us most carefully avoid pride, disdain, and arrogance. [Lat., In rebus prosperis, superbiam, fastidium arrogantiamque magno opere fugiamus.]”
Prosperity Quotes
Source: De Officiis (I, 26)