Cicero

No one can be perfectly happy who has not cultivated philosophy. For philosophy is the medicine of the soul.

The soul is immortal, and therefore we should not fear death. Death is either the end of all sensation, or the beginning of a better life.

The wise man is always happy. For he has all that he desires, and he desires nothing that is not in his power.

Pain is not the greatest evil. The greatest evil is to be conquered by pain. The wise man endures pain with fortitude.

It is not by running away from pain that we become brave, but by enduring it. The habit of endurance makes the soul strong.

The Spartans hardened their children by exposing them to labor and pain. So we should harden our souls by philosophy, that we may bear the blows of fortune.

Grief is the disease of the soul, but it is a disease that we bring upon ourselves by our opinions. We judge that some evil has befallen us, and therefore we grieve.

Time does not heal grief, but reason does. We must correct our opinion about the thing that has happened, and then the grief will cease.

We should not give way to grief, because it does not help the dead, but harms the living. The dead are beyond our tears; we only injure ourselves.

The passions are all in our own power. We cannot prevent the first movements of the soul, but we can prevent them from becoming passions by withholding our consent.

Anger is a brief madness. It takes away the judgment and makes a man the enemy of his best friends. The philosopher must therefore extirpate it.

The happy life is found in virtue alone. All other things are indifferent; they may be used well or ill, but they do not make a man happy.

The wise man is not only happy, but he is happy under all circumstances. Torture cannot take away his happiness, because his happiness is in his own soul.

The soul has its own riches, and they are the only riches that cannot be taken away. A good conscience is the greatest of possessions.

The noblest and most excellent part of philosophy is the study of duty. For it teaches us not only what we ought to do, but how to do it.

The four cardinal virtues are wisdom, justice, fortitude, and temperance. These are the foundations of all honorable conduct.

We are not born for ourselves alone. Our country claims a share of our being, and our friends claim a share.

The useful and the honorable are not two different things. What is truly useful is always honorable, and what is honorable is always useful.

A man should not only be a good man, but he should seem to be good. For the appearance of goodness is a help to goodness, and the concealment of vice is a vice.

The greatest glory of virtue is in the love of our country. He who serves his country best is the best man.

We should follow the counsel of nature, and nature has implanted in man a love of his fellow-men. Therefore, all men are united by a common bond.

Nothing is more honorable than the good faith of a promise. The man who breaks his word is not a man of honor.

The useful must never be preferred to the honorable. For if it is not honorable, it cannot be useful in the true sense.

There is no virtue greater than justice. It is the bond of human society, and without it, men cannot live together.

Law is the highest reason, implanted in nature, which commands what ought to be done and forbids the opposite. This reason is the foundation of justice.

The whole race of mankind is united by a common nature. We are all members of one body, and therefore we should love one another.

The true law is right reason conformable to nature, universal, unchangeable, eternal. Its commands are not to be evaded, and its prohibitions are not to be transgressed.

The Stoics say that the end of life is to live in accordance with nature, that is, in accordance with right reason and virtue. This is the only good, and all else is indifferent.

Virtue is sufficient for happiness. The wise man needs nothing else for a good life, though he may prefer health and wealth to sickness and poverty.

The wise man is always happy, because he is always virtuous. External events cannot take away his virtue, and therefore cannot take away his happiness.

The wise man is not free from the first movements of the soul, but he is free from passion. He may feel a sudden sting, but he does not consent to it.

There is no possible source of relief from serious mental distress but philosophy.

Every perturbation is a violent motion of the mind either against reason, or without any regard to it.

Grief, therefore, being an opinion, is voluntary.

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.

A soul without a fixed purpose is lost; to be everywhere is to be nowhere.

The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.

Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity.

We are not born, we do not live for ourselves alone; our country, our friends, have a share in us.

The whole life of the philosopher, as Plato says, is a preparation for death.

Friendship makes prosperity brighter, while it lightens adversity by sharing its griefs and anxieties.

A friend is, as it were, a second self.

In the very act of doing a favor, we should say and mean, 'Never think of it, I am delighted to have been of use.'

Nothing so cements and holds together in union all the parts of a society as faith or credit.

Nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing more clearly shows a great and noble soul, than clemency and readiness to forgive.

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?

No one can be entirely happy unless he can love another as another self.

When you are aspiring to the highest place, it is honourable to reach the second or even the third rank.

We are all bound by the immutable laws of nature to submit to certain misfortunes.

Bring to a Stoic anything he calls evil, and he will still say it is not really an evil.

There is nothing that fear or grief may not extort from a soul which is not fortified by philosophy.

No shrewd person will act unless he thinks he sees the way clear before him.

The whole glory of virtue is in activity.

In doing nothing men learn to do evil.

Every duty which tends to the preservation of society ought to be preferred to that duty which is confined to knowledge and science.

Justice is the highest of the virtues.

Let us reflect that nothing but goodness is truly the good.

Friendship makes life happier by sharing its joys.

Nature has so formed us that a certain tie unites us all.

Time removes distress, while friendship stays.

We do not have friends because we are weak, but because we are strong enough to bestow the benefits of friendship.

No one can live a happy life without wisdom, honour, and justice; nor can any live wisely, honourably, and justly without being happy.

Grief comes from the mistaken belief that a great evil is present.

The whole life of a philosopher is a meditation of death.

Great is the power of habit.

No one but the wise man is free.

All wise men are free.

Only virtue is a good.

Every fool is mad.