Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicerowas a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and was one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionStatesman
wisdom democracy politics
Freedom is participation in power.
believe gains action
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.
truth fire sparks
This is the truth: as from a fire aflame thousands of sparks come forth, even so from the Creator an infinity of beings have life and to him return again.
philosophical slavery
To some extent I liken slavery to death.
philosophy philosophical cohabitation
Not cohabitation but consensus constitutes marriage.
men members commonwealth
We must conceive of this whole universe as one commonwealth of which both gods and men are members.
philosophical law customs
The best interpreter of the law is custom.
gratitude philosophical envy
I never admire another's fortune so much that I became dissatisfied with my own.
trust truth philosophical
The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone else his due.
wise witty powerful
I criticize by creation - not by finding fault.
pleasure pleasures-of-life satiety
In everything, satiety closely follows the greatest pleasures.
friendship philosophical jest
Never injure a friend, even in jest.
philosophical blessing growth
The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured.
god giving soul
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.