Cicero Quotes 

Cicero is hardly to be reckoned ...for he delighted so much more in the practice, than in the theory, of his art, that he is perpetually drawn off from the rigid philosophical analysis of its principles, into discursive declamations, always eloquent indeed, and often highly interesting, but adverse to regularity of system, and frequently as unsatisfactory to the practical student as to the Philosopher.
Richard Whately
Share

More Cicero Quotes 

Do you remember that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, "How well he spoke" but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, "Let us march."

adlai stevenson

— Introducing John F. Kennedy in 1960, as quoted in Adlai Stevenson and The World: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (1977) by John Bartlow Martin, p. 549.

Tags: you, remember, classical, times, when, finished, speaking, people, spoke

Share
twitter

The Stolen and Perverted Writings of Homer & Ovid, of Plato & Cicero, which all men ought to contemn, are set up by artifice against the Sublime of the Bible

william blake

— Preface

Tags: Stolen, Writings, Homer, amp, Ovid, Plato, men, contemn, set

Share
twitter

Antonius [i. e., C. Antonius Hybrida] heartily agreed with him [i. e., M. Tullius Cicero] that the budget should be balanced, that the Treasury should be refilled, that public debt should be reduced, that the arrogance of the generals should be tempered and controlled, that assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, that the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence, and that prudence and frugality should be put into practice as soon as possible.

taylor caldwell

— A Pillar of Iron (1965), p. 483 of the 1965 edition published by Doubleday (Garden City, NY), and p. 371 (in chapter 51) of the 1966 British edition from Collins (London). The passage, as written or in shortened or modified form, has sometimes been misattributed to M. Tullius Cicero himself. Its origin and history of misquotation have been discussed at Quote Investigator and Snopes.

Tags: Antonius, Hybrida, heartily, agreed, him, budget, balanced, Treasury, refilled

Share
twitter

You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage; And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero, Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by. Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.


— Lines written for a School Declamation, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "The lofty oak from a small acorn grows", Lewis Duncombe (1711–1730), De Minimus Maxima (translation).

Tags: scarce, expect, one, age, speak, public, stage, chance, fall

Share
twitter

The great Roman statesman Cicero observed that, 'Not to know what happened before one was born is to be always a child.' In our ignorance of the values that form part of our history and heritage, we Americans have become perpetual children.

ilana mercer

— “A Burning Dilemma Among America’s Dhimma,” American Daily Herald, May 10, 2013.

Tags: great, Roman, statesman, observed, know, what, happened, before, one

Share
twitter

Cicero said loud-bawling orators were driven by their weakness to noise, as lame men to take horse.

Plutarch

— Cicero. (Others)

Tags: loudbawling, orators, driven, weakness, noise, lame, men, horse

Share
twitter

After the battle in Pharsalia, when Pompey was fled, one Nonius said they had seven eagles left still, and advised to try what they would do. "Your advice," said Cicero, "were good if we were to fight jackdaws."

Plutarch

— Cicero. (Others)

Tags: After, battle, Pharsalia, when, Pompey, fled, one, Nonius, seven

Share
twitter

That silence is one of the great arts of conversation is allowed by Cicero himself, who says, there is not only an art, but even an eloquence in it.


— Hannah More (1745–1833) , Essays on Various Subjects, Thoughts on Conversation.

Tags: silence, one, great, arts, conversation, allowed, himself, who, there

Share
twitter

You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage; And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero, Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by. Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.


— David Everett, Lines Written for a School Declamation.

Tags: scarce, expect, one, age, speak, public, stage, chance, fall

Share
twitter

You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage; And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero, Don't view me with a critic's eye, But pass my imperfections by. Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.


— Lines written for a School Declamation, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "The lofty oak from a small acorn grows", Lewis Duncombe (1711–1730), De Minimus Maxima (translation).

Tags: scarce, expect, one, age, speak, public, stage, chance, fall

Share
twitter

The great Roman statesman Cicero observed that, 'Not to know what happened before one was born is to be always a child.' In our ignorance of the values that form part of our history and heritage, we Americans have become perpetual children.


— “A Burning Dilemma Among America’s Dhimma,” American Daily Herald, May 10, 2013.

Tags: great, Roman, statesman, observed, know, what, happened, before, one

Share
twitter

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden."


— p. 62. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: read, Plato, sayings, wise, beautiful, never, me, labor, heavy

Share
twitter

Do you remember that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, "How well he spoke" but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, "Let us march."


— Adlai Stevenson, introducing John F. Kennedy in 1960, as quoted in Adlai Stevenson and The World: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson? (1977) by John Bartlow Martin, p. 549

Tags: you, remember, classical, times, when, finished, speaking, people, spoke

Share
twitter

Cicero said loud-bawling orators were driven by their weakness to noise, as lame men to take horse.


— Cicero.

Tags: loudbawling, orators, driven, weakness, noise, lame, men, horse

Share
twitter

After the battle in Pharsalia, when Pompey was fled, one Nonius said they had seven eagles left still, and advised to try what they would do. "Your advice," said Cicero, "were good if we were to fight jackdaws."


— Cicero.

Tags: After, battle, Pharsalia, when, Pompey, fled, one, Nonius, seven

Share
twitter

Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato's Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs.


— Life of Cicero.

Tags: Aristotle, river, flowing, gold, Plato's, Dialogues, Jupiter, speak, language

Share
twitter

The following two 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.


— Taylor Caldwell in her novel based on the life of Cicero, A Pillar of Iron (1965), p. 451

Tags: following, two, quotes, sometimes, wrongly, attributed, fact, novel, Taylor

Share
twitter

If I could have known Cicero, and been his friend, and talked with him in his retirement at Tusculum (beau-ti-ful Tusculum l), I could have died contented.


— Charles Dickens, Mrs. Blimlier in Dombey and Son (1848), Ch. XI, p. 105.

Tags: known, been, friend, talked, him, retirement, Tusculum, beautiful, died

Share
twitter

"There's nothing to beat these old English country houses." said Charlie, becoming lyrical. "All those parks and gardens and terraces and stuff. Makes you think of bygone ages and knights in armour and all like that. I saw one of these joints in a movie in Cicero once with Fred Astaire in it, and I remember thinking those guys have it pretty soft."


— From P.G. Wodehouse's Do Butlers Burgle Banks? (1968)

Tags: nothing, beat, old, English, country, houses, Charlie, becoming, lyrical

Share
twitter

I have been increasingly moved to wonder whether my job is a job or a racket, whether economists, and particularly economic theorists, may not be in the position that Cicero, citing Cato, ascribed to the augurs of Romethat they should cover their faces or burst into laughter when they met on the street.

Frank Hyneman Knight

— 1950  Collected in Essays on theHistory and Method of Economics (1956).

Tags: been, increasingly, moved, wonder, job, racket, economists, economic, theorists

Share
twitter

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 of the generals should be tempered and controlled, that assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt, that the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence, and that prudence and frugality should be put into practice as soon as possible.


— Taylor Caldwell in her novel based on the life of Cicero, A Pillar of Iron (1965), p. 483 of the 1965 edition published by Doubleday (Garden City, NY). In the 1966 British edition from Collins (London), the passage occurs at the bottom of p. 371, in chapter 51. The origin and history of the quotation have been discussed at Quote Investigator and Snopes.

Tags: Antonius, Hybrida, heartily, agreed, him, budget, balanced, Treasury, refilled

Share
twitter

Cicero called Aristotle a river of flowing gold, and said of Plato's Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to speak, it would be in language like theirs.

Plutarch

— Life of Cicero.

Tags: Aristotle, river, flowing, gold, Plato's, Dialogues, Jupiter, speak, language

Share
twitter
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Examples
    • See in a sentence
    • Example articles
  • Quotes
    • Famous Quotes
    • Quote Articles
  • Spanish
    • Spanish-English Translation
    • Reference
  • Reference
    • Education
    • ESL
    • Grammar
    • Abbreviations
    • Biography
    • Books & Literature
    • Examples
    • Foreign Languages
    • Resources
    • Slideshows
  • Word Finder
    • 4 Pics 1 Word Answers
    • Anagram Solver
    • Scrabble Dictionary
    • Unscramble
    • Word Cookies Cheat
    • Scrabble Checker
    • Words With Friends Cheat
    • More Games
Share
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Examples
    • See in a sentence
    • Example articles
  • Quotes
    • Famous Quotes
    • Quote Articles
  • Spanish
    • Spanish-English Translation
    • Reference
  • Reference
    • Education
    • ESL
    • Grammar
    • Abbreviations
    • Biography
    • Books & Literature
    • Examples
    • Foreign Languages
    • Resources
    • Slideshows
  • Word Finder
    • 4 Pics 1 Word Answers
    • Anagram Solver
    • Scrabble Dictionary
    • Unscramble
    • Word Cookies Cheat
    • Scrabble Checker
    • Words With Friends Cheat
    • More Games
Share
  • Home
  • Quotes
  • Cicero quotes
Send your feedback to YourDictionary
Get our free Amazon Alexa Skills!

Join YourDictionary today

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Please set a username for yourself.
People will see it as Author Name with your public flash cards.