Cicero Quotes
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer, and philosopher of the late Roman Republic, who served as consul in 63 BC and was murdered in 43 BC during the proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate. His philosophical writings, composed largely in the last years of his life, transmitted the major schools of Hellenistic philosophy to the Latin-speaking world and coined much of the Latin philosophical vocabulary subsequently inherited by medieval and modern European thought. The quotes below are attributed to Cicero, organized by topic.
Browse Cicero by topic
Cicero on Death
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“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”
Reddite igitur, patres conscripti, ei vitam, cui ademistis. Vita enim mortuorum in memoria est posita vivorum. -
“Compare: "Often do the spirits / Of great events stride on before the events, / And in to-day already walks to-morrow", Samuel Taylor Coleridge , The Death of Wallenstein , Act v, scene 1”
De Divinatione–On Divination(44 BC)
Cicero on Freedom
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Attributed to Cicero:
“We are servants of the laws so that we may be free.”
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“For such is the work of philosophy: it cures souls, draws off vain anxieties, confers freedom from desires, drives away fears.”
Tusculanae Disputationes–Tusculan Disputations(45 BC) | Book II, Chapter IV; translation by Andrew P. Peabody -
“Unbecoming to a gentleman, too, and vulgar are the means of livelihood of all hired workmen whom we pay for mere manual labour, not for artistic skill; for in their case the very wage they receive is a pledge of their slavery.”
De Officiis–On Duties(44 BC) | Book I, section 150; translation by Walter Miller
Cicero on God
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“since our leading men think themselves in a seventh heaven, if there are bearded mullets in their fish-ponds that will come to hand for food, and neglect everything else, do not you think that I am doing no mean service if I secure that those who have the power, should not have the will, to do any harm?”
Letters to Atticus, Book II, 1. -
“I say, then, that the universe and all its parts both received their first order from divine providence, and are at all times administered by it.”
De Natura Deorum–On the Nature of the Gods(45 BC) | Book II, section 30 -
“And what can be more divine than the exhalations of the earth, which affect the human soul so as to enable her to predict the future ? And could the hand of time evaporate such a virtue? Do you suppose you are talking of some kind of wine or salted meat ?”
De Divinatione–On Divination(44 BC) | Book I, Chapter III
Cicero on Happiness
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“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil. -
“We should never take pleasure in causing pain to others, even to those who have wronged us, but rather strive to do good to all.”
Wikiquote -
“That which is most excellent, and is most to be desired by all happy, honest and healthy-minded men, is dignified leisure.”
Pro Publio Sestio ; Chapter XLV
Cicero on Justice
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Attributed to Cicero:
“Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offence.”
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“As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars. Epistulae ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus) Book VII, Letter 14, section 3; as translated by E.O. Winstedt in the Loeb Classical Library”
Equidem ad pacem hortari non desino; quae vel iniusta utilior est quam iustissimum bellum cum civibus. -
“Injustice often arises also through chicanery, that is, through an over-subtle and even fraudulent construction of the law. This it is that gave rise to the now familiar saw, "More law, less justice."”
De Officiis–On Duties(44 BC) | Book I, section 33; translation by Walter Miller. -
“I have always been of the opinion that infamy earned by doing what is right is not infamy at all, but glory.”
In Catilinam I–Against Catiline(63 BC) | Speech I -
“As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars.”
Epistulae ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus) Book VII, Letter 14, section 3; as translated by E.O. Winstedt in the Loeb Classical Library
Cicero on Knowledge
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Attributed to Cicero:
“I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.”
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Attributed to Cicero:
“The wise are instructed by reason; average minds by experience; the stupid, by necessity; and brutes, by instinct.”
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“On Duties (De Officiis) 1.33 (translated by Walter Miller)”
Wikiquote -
“Equidem ad pacem hortari non desino; quae vel iniusta utilior est quam iustissimum bellum cum civibus.”
As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars. Epistulae ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus) Book VII, Letter 14, section 3; as translated by E.O. Winstedt in the Loeb Classical Library -
“They are such fools that they seem to expect that, though the Republic is lost, their fish-ponds will be safe.”
Letters to Atticus, Book I, 18. -
“Letters to Atticus, Book I, 18.”
They are such fools that they seem to expect that, though the Republic is lost, their fish-ponds will be safe. -
“Letters to Atticus, Book II, 1.”
since our leading men think themselves in a seventh heaven, if there are bearded mullets in their fish-ponds that will come to hand for food, and neglect everything else, do not you think that I am doing no mean service if I secure that those who have the power, should not have the will, to do any harm? -
“Quidem concessum est rhetoribus ementiri in historiis ut aliquid dicere possint argutius.”
Indeed rhetoricians are permitted to lie about historical matters so they can speak more subtly. Brutus , 42 -
“For in order to command well, we should know how to submit; and he who submits with a good grace will some time become worthy of commanding.”
De Legibus(On the Laws)(c. 40s BC) | Book III, section 2; translation by Francis Barham -
“Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. For what is the time of a man, except it be interwoven with that memory of ancient things of a previous age?”
Orator Ad M. Brutum(46 BC) -
“Variant translation: To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child.”
Orator Ad M. Brutum(46 BC) | Chapter XXXIV, section 120 -
“Arms are of little value in the field unless there is wise counsel at home.”
De Officiis–On Duties(44 BC) | Book I, section 76 (trans. Walter Miller)
Cicero on Life
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Attributed to Cicero:
“While there's life, there's hope.”
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“Restore life then, Conscript Fathers, to him, from whom you have taken it away. The life of the dead is in the memory of the living.”
Philippicae–Philippics(44 BC) | Philippica IX, 10; translation of William Duncan -
“We, on the contrary, make blessedness of life depend upon an untroubled mind, and exemption from all duties.”
De Natura Deorum–On the Nature of the Gods(45 BC) -
“Does not, as fire dropped upon water is immediately extinguished and cooled, so, does not, I say, a false accusation, when brought in contact with a most pure and holy life, instantly fall and become extinguished?”
Cicero , Pro Roscio Comodeo Oratio , 17; C.D. Yonge translation
Cicero on Love
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“Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.”
Nam et secundas res splendidiores facit amicitia et adversas partiens communicansque leviores. -
“But of all motives, none is better adapted to secure influence and hold it fast than love; nothing is more foreign to that end than fear.”
De Officiis–On Duties(44 BC) | Book II, section 23; translation by Walter Miller
Cicero on Mind
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“Of any man at all it is to err, to persist in error is of none except unthinking; for the later thoughts, as they say, are usually the wiser.”
Philippicae–Philippics(44 BC) | Philippica XII, 5; translation of Walter C.A. Ker -
“Diseases of the mind are more common and more pernicious than diseases of the body.”
Tusculanae Disputationes–Tusculan Disputations(45 BC) | Book III, Chapter III -
“Shortened Version: We think a happy life consists in tranquility of mind.”
De Natura Deorum–On the Nature of the Gods(45 BC) | Book I, section 6 -
“No one is so old as to think that he cannot live one more year.”
Cato Maior de Senectute – On Old Age(44 BC) | section 24
Cicero on Nature
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“Law is the perfection of reason implanted in us by nature, which enjoins what should be done, and forbids what we should not do.”
De Legibus(On the Laws)(c. 40s BC) -
“Time destroys the figments of the imagination, while confirming the judgments of nature.”
De Natura Deorum–On the Nature of the Gods(45 BC) -
“Whatever befalls in accordance with Nature should be accounted good.”
Cato Maior de Senectute – On Old Age(44 BC) | section 71
Cicero on Politics
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Attributed to Cicero:
“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.”
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“Than a smatterer in law, wary, indeed, and a smart prater about actions, a setter-forth of forms, a captious wrangler.”
De Oratore–On the Orator(55 BC) | Book I, Chapter 55; J. W. Jones, A Translation of all the Greek, Latin, Italian, and French Quotations which Occur in Blackstone's 'Commentaries on the Laws of England', &c. (Philadelphia, PA: T. & J.
Cicero on Time
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“History is truly the witness of times past, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity; whose voice, but the orator's, can entrust her to immortality?”
De Oratore–On the Orator(55 BC) | Book II, Chapter 9, section 36 -
“The greatest states have been overthrown by the young and sustained and restored by the old. ... Rashness is the product of the budding-time of youth, prudence of the harvest-time of age.”
Cato Maior de Senectute – On Old Age(44 BC) | section 20
Cicero on Truth
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“Indeed rhetoricians are permitted to lie about historical matters so they can speak more subtly. Brutus , 42”
Quidem concessum est rhetoribus ementiri in historiis ut aliquid dicere possint argutius. -
“De Natura Deorum–On the Nature of the Gods(45 BC) | Book II, section 2; translation by Francis Brooks”
Variant: For time destroys the fictions of error and opinion, while it confirms the determinations of nature and of truth. -
“True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can anything feigned be lasting.”
De Officiis–On Duties(44 BC) | Book II, section 43
Cicero on Virtue
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Attributed to 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.”
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“A grateful mind is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the other virtues.”
As quoted in Great Thoughts from Latin Authors (1884), by Craufurd Tait Ramage, p. 32
Things actually not said by Cicero
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as Cicero but are in fact from someone else. Did Cicero say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“So live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: The origin of this quote is often misattributed to Cicero; however, it is from Line 135-136 of Book 2, Satire 2 by Horace, "Quocirca vivite fortes, fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus." The English translation that most closely matches the one misrepresented as Cicero's is from a collection of
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“The evil was not in bread and circuses, per se, but in the willingness of the people to sell their rights as free men for full bellies and the excitement of the games which would serve to distract them from the other human hungers which bread and circuses can never appease.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: From Ben Moreell , " Of Bread and Circuses ", The Freeman , January 1956, pp. 29–32 . The quotation is from the left column of p. 31 in the original publication. Moreell's piece makes no mention of Cicero, but opens with a correct attribution of the phrase " Bread and circuses " to Juvenal .
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: As quoted in InfoWorld , Vol. 23, No. 16, 16 April 2001, p. 49. This had been attributed previously to many other sources from 1908 on, according to this analysis by Quote Investigator .
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government. | Paraphrased as "The closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are." Truly from Tacitus , Annals, Book III, 27
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“The following three quotes are sometimes wrongly attributed to Cicero. In fact, they come from a novel about Cicero by Taylor Caldwell , and are not found in any of Cicero's actual writings.”
A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog. Who can trust such creatures? Taylor Caldwell in her novel based on the life of Cicero, A Pillar of Iron (1965), p. 451 Antonius [i. e., C. Antonius Hybrida ] heartily agreed with him [sc. Cicero] that the budget should be balanced, that the Treasury should be refilled, that public debt should be reduced, that the arrogance…
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“Diem adimere aegritudinem hominibus.”
Time heals all wounds. Truly from Terentius , Heautontimorumenos, Act III, scene i
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Attributed to Cicero in J. M. Braude's Speaker's Desk Book of Quips, Quotes, & Anecdotes (Jaico Pub. House, 1966), p. 52. Dennis McHenry in a 2011 post at theCAMPVS.com identified a source for the exact form of words in the essay "On the Pleasure of Reading" by Sir John Lubbock , published in The Contemporary Review , vol. 49 (1886) , pp. 240–51 , in which Lubbock wrote that "Cicero described a room without books as a body without a soul" (p. 241). The same sentence may also be found on p. 61 of Lubbock's collection The Pleasures of Life. Part I. 18th edition (London and New York : Macmillan and Co. 1890) , in a lecture titled "A Song of Books". McHenry suggested that Lubbock may have had… (Disputed.)
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“The first duty of a man is the seeking after and the investigation of truth.”
As quoted in A Crowd of One: The Future of Individual Identity (2007) by John Clippinger, p. 130 Compare: "The distinguishing property of man is to search for and to follow after truth." – De Officiis , Book I, 13 (Disputed.)
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“As quoted in A Crowd of One: The Future of Individual Identity (2007) by John Clippinger, p. 130”
Compare: "The distinguishing property of man is to search for and to follow after truth." – De Officiis , Book I, 13 (Disputed.)
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“For as lack of adornment is said to become some women, so this subtle oration, though without embellishment, gives delight.”
Supposedly from De Oratore , 78 ("...for women more easily preserve the ancient language unaltered, because, not having experience of the conversation of a multitude of people, they always retain what they originally learned..."), reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations , 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "Loveliness / Needs not the foreign aid of ornament, / But is when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most", James Thomson , The Seasons , "Autumn", Line 204 (Disputed.)
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“The freedom of poetic license.”
Suggested to be from Pro Publio Sestio (sec. 6: "...my attacking those men with some freedom of expression..." (Disputed.)
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Did Cicero say this? No.
“Genius is fostered by energy.”
Suggested to be from Pro Caelio (ch. xix, sec. 45: "...in that branch of study you saw not only his genius shine forth, which frequently, even when it is not nourished by industry, still produces great effects by its own natural vigour...") (Disputed.)