List of Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

Peace Is So Beneficial That The Word Itself Is Pleasant To Hear.

When Trying A Case [the Famous Judge] L. Cassius Never Failed To Inquire "who Gained By It?" Man's Character Is Such That No One Undertakes Crimes Without Hope Of Gain.

An Innocent Man, If Accused, Can Be Acquitted; A Guilty Man, Unless Accused, Cannot Be Condemned. It Is, However, More Advantageous To Absolve An Innocent Than Not To Prosecute A Guilty Man.

Just What Is The Civil Law? What Neither Influence Can Affect, Nor Power Break, Nor Money Corrupt: Were It To Be Suppressed Or Even Merely Ignored Or Inadequately Observed, No One Would Feel Safe About Anything, Whether His Own Possessions, The Inheritance He Expects From His Father, Or The Bequests He Makes To His Children.

What Is Impossible By The Nature Of Things Is Not Confirmed By Any Law.

This Seems To Be Advanced As The Surest Basis For Our Belief In The Existence Of Gods, That There Is No Race So Uncivilized, No One In The World So Barbarous That His Mind Has No Inkling Of A Belief In Gods.

Nothing Is So Difficult To Believe That Oratory Cannot Make It Acceptable, Nothing So Rough And Uncultured As Not To Gain Brilliance And Refinement From Eloquence.

In Fact The Whole Passion Ordinarily Termed Love (and Heaven Help Me If I Can Think Of Any Other Term To Apply To It) Is Of Such Exceeding Triviality That I See Nothing That I Think Comparable With It.

If The Oarsmen Of A Fast-moving Ship Suddenly Cease To Row, The Suspension Of The Driving Force Of The Oars Doesn't Prevent The Vessel From Continuing To Move On Its Course. And With A Speech It Is Much The Same. After He Has Finished Reciting The Document, The Speaker Will Still Be Able To Maintain The Same Tone Without A Break, Borrowing Its Momentum And Impulse From The Passage He Has Just Read Out.

Who Does Not Know History's First Law To Be That An Author Must Not Dare To Tell Anything But The Truth? And Its Second That He Must Make Bold To Tell The Whole Truth? That There Must Be No Suggestion Of Partiality Anywhere In His Writings? Nor Of Malice?

For A Courageous Man Cannot Die Dishonorably, A Man Who Has Attained The Consulship Cannot Die Before His Time, A Philosopher Cannot Die Wretchedly.

Let Arms Yield To The Toga, Let The [victor's] Laurel Yield To The [orator's] Tongue.