“Few are those who wish to be endowed with virtue rather than to seem so.”

— Cicero, On Friendship (De Amicitia), 98

About Cicero

106 BC – 43 BC

Roman statesman, orator and philosopher, whose speeches and letters are among the most important sources on the late Roman Republic.

“Persistence in a single view has never been regarded as a merit in political leaders.”

“Fear is not a lasting teacher of duty.”

“There is said to be hope for a sick man, as long as there is life.”

“For me, reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.”

“A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.”

“To withdraw is not to run away, and to stay is no wise action when there is more reason to fear than to hope.”

“The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.”

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power, the greater it will be.”

“There is not a truth existing which I fear or would wish unknown to the whole world.”