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.
Cicero on Death
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Attributed to Cicero:
“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”
Cicero on Freedom
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Attributed to Cicero:
“We are servants of the laws so that we may be free.”
Cicero on Happiness
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Attributed to Cicero:
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Cicero on Justice
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Attributed to Cicero:
“Justice consists in doing no injury to men; decency in giving them no offence.”
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.”
Cicero on Life
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Attributed to Cicero:
“While there's life, there's hope.”
Cicero on Love
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Attributed to Cicero:
“Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.”
Cicero on Politics
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Attributed to Cicero:
“The safety of the people shall be the highest law.”
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.”