Advice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey’s end.
The aim of a ship’s captain is a successful voyage; a doctor’s, health; a general’s, victory. So the aim of our ideal statesman is the citizens’ happy life – that is, a life secure in wealth, rich in resources, abundant in renown, and honorable in its moral character. That is the task which I wish him to accomplish – the greatest and best that any man can have.
Mine is the disaster, if disaster there be; and to be severely distressed at one’s own misfortunes does not show that you love your friend, but that you love yourself.
Of this last kind of comparisons is that quoted from the elder Cato, who, when asked what was the most profitable thing to be done on an estate, replied, “To feed cattle well.” “What second best?” “To feed cattle moderately well.” “What third best?” “To feed cattle, though but poorly.” “What fourth best?” “To plough the land.” And when he who had made these inquiries asked, “What is to be said of making profit by usury?” Cato replied, “What is to be said of making profit by murder?
Zoals de dwaasheid nooit tevreden is, zelfs niet als haar wensen worden vervuld, zo is de wijsheid steeds tevreden met wat voorhanden is, en heeft nooit onvrede met zichzelf.
Loquor enim de docto homine et erudito, cui vivere est cogitare.
There is no doubt that a person who is called generous and open-handed has duty in mind, not gain. So likewise justice looks for no prize and no price; it is sought for itself, and is at once the cause and meaning of all the virtues.
Instead let Virtue herself, by her own unaided allurements, summon you to a glory that is genuine and real.
For what I lack in experience I make up for in diligence.
Once you have surrounded the entire place with the nets of your thought, at least if practical experience has sharpened your skill, nothing will escape you, and everything that is in the subject matter will run up to you and fall into your hands.
I have taken so kindly to idleness that I can’t tear myself away from it. So either I amuse myself with books, of which I have a good stock at Antium, or I count the waves – the weather is unsuitable for mackerel fishing... And my sole form of political activity is to hate the rascals, and even that I do without anger.
It is not merriment and wantonness, nor laughter or jesting, the comrade of frivolity, that make men happy; those are happy, often in sadness, whose wills are strong and true.
It’s not by strength or speed or swiftness of body that great deeds are done, but by wisdom, character, and sober judgment.
This shows how a man who practices exercise and self-control can preserve some of his original vigor even when he grows old.
Nothing is more damaging to a state, nothing so contrary to justice and law, nothing less appropriate to a civilized community, than to force through a measure by violence where a country has a settled and established constitution.
However one defines man, the same definition applies to us all.
The reward of friendship is friendship itself.
The closer the collapse of the Empire, the crazier its laws are.
No one can be a sound judge if he does not give due weight to convincing suspicions.
If you have a library in your garden, everything will be complete.
Honesty is the best policy.