Cicero quotes for UPSC

Honorable things, not secretive things, are sought by good men.

I have always been of the opinion that infamy earned by doing what is right is not infamy at all, but glory.

True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can anything feigned be lasting.

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

For what is there more hideous than avarice, more brutal than lust, more contemptible than cowardice, more base than stupidity and folly?

We should never take pleasure in causing pain to others, even to those who have wronged us, but rather strive to do good to all.

We are not born for ourselves alone; a part of us is claimed by our nation, another part by our friends.

But of all motives, none is better adapted to secure influence and hold it fast than love; nothing is more foreign to that end than fear.

For in order to command well, we should know how to submit; and he who submits with a good grace will some time become worthy of commanding.

Let the welfare of the people be the ultimate law.

Arms are of little value in the field unless there is wise counsel at home.

For laws are silent among arms.

Law is the perfection of reason implanted in us by nature, which enjoins what should be done, and forbids what we should not do.

Yield, ye arms, to the toga; to civic praise, ye laurels.

O immortal gods! Men do not realize how great a revenue parsimony can be!

As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars.

Time destroys the figments of the imagination, while confirming the judgments of nature.

We do not destroy religion by destroying superstition.

Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. For what is the time of a man, except it be interwoven with that memory of ancient things of a previous age?

History is truly the witness of times past, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity; whose voice, but the orator's, can entrust her to immortality?

Before entering any occupation, diligent preparation is to be undertaken.

Constant practice devoted to one subject often prevails over both ability and skill.

The beginnings of all things are small.

We must not say that every mistake is a foolish one.

No one can be happy without virtue.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

For such is the work of philosophy: it cures souls, draws off vain anxieties, confers freedom from desires, drives away fears.

Of any man at all it is to err, to persist in error is of none except unthinking; for the later thoughts, as they say, are usually the wiser.

But still anger ought be far from us, for nothing is able to be done rightly nor judiciously with anger.

For friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.

If a man aspires to the highest place, it is no dishonor to him to halt at the second, or even at the third.

Diseases of the mind are more common and more pernicious than diseases of the body.