Cicero Quotes: Sources, Meanings & Themes

Cato on Old Age, Shuckburgh translation, in a passage about older people planting for those who come after them.

Cato on Old Age, Shuckburgh translation.

Cato on Old Age, Shuckburgh translation, in Cicero’s discussion of the distinctive advantages of each season of life.

Cato on Old Age, in Cicero’s answer to the complaint that age reduces physical strength.

De Amicitia, chapter 21 / classical section 80, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. Laelius says that unless self-love is transferred into friendship a true friend cannot be found, “for such a friend is, as it were, another self.” The familiar another-self formulation is presented in its philosophical context and not as a literal identity claim.

De Amicitia, chapter 8 / classical section 27, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. Laelius argues that friendship springs from nature rather than need and from an inclination of the mind with consciousness of love rather than calculation of utility. This is Cicero’s philosophical position voiced through Laelius, not modern social-science evidence.

De Amicitia, chapter 6 / classical section 22, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. “Friendship has more advantages than I can easily name” introduces Laelius’ catalogue of the many uses and consolations of friendship; the open-ended praise remains rhetorical/philosophical rather than a quantified claim about relationship outcomes.

De Amicitia, chapter 17 / classical section 62, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. “Firm, steadfast, self-consistent men are to be chosen as friends” follows Laelius’ recollection of Scipio’s concern that people test possessions more carefully than friendships. The counsel remains ancient character ethics rather than a diagnostic rule for evaluating people.

De Amicitia, chapter 6 / classical section 22, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. “Such friendship at once enhances the lustre of prosperity, and by dividing and sharing adversity lessens its burden” closes Laelius’ contrast between ordinary association and true/perfect friendship. The sentence remains ancient ethical rhetoric rather than a guaranteed psychological effect of companionship.

De Amicitia (Laelius de Amicitia), chapter 6 / classical section 20, Andrew P. Peabody translation, Project Gutenberg #7491. Laelius defines friendship as entire fellow feeling in human and divine things joined with mutual goodwill and affection. Cicero remains the work author while Gaius Laelius is the local dialogue speaker; this is ancient ethical-philosophical argument rather than a modern empirical definition of friendship.

De Officiis, Book II, section 32; Cicero lists kind services among the strongest ways of earning goodwill.

De Officiis, Book I, section 47; Cicero discusses how kindness already received creates a stronger duty of requital.

De Officiis, Book II, section 33, Project Gutenberg #47001. Cicero’s larger argument says public confidence depends on practical wisdom joined with justice; intelligence alone is not presented as sufficient for trust.

De Officiis, Book I, section 23; Cicero defines good faith through truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.

De Officiis, Book II, section 64; Cicero discusses generosity while also warning against careless management of one’s property.

Laelius on Friendship; the surrounding passage pairs shared joy with support during misfortune.

Laelius on Friendship, translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh in Project Gutenberg’s Treatises on Friendship and Old Age.

Laelius on Friendship, Shuckburgh translation.

Laelius on Friendship; Laelius frames friendship as useful and natural in both good and difficult times.

Tusculan Disputations, Book V, section XIV, represented by Project Gutenberg #14988. Cicero defines security parenthetically as freedom from anxiety while arguing that a happy life must rest on stable goods and virtue rather than vulnerable externals. It remains ancient philosophical psychology mediated by translation, not modern clinical anxiety-treatment evidence.