Sublime

The difficulty, my friends, is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death.

If I had gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid, there would have been some sense in my doing so; but now, as you will perceive, not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of any one; of that they have no witness. And I have a sufficient witness to the truth of what I say—my poverty.

an ambitious young philosopher, he was at the time engaged in an elaborate project of trying to sleep his way into influence at court.

Cicero believed three things about older age. First, that it should be dedicated to service, not goofing off. Second, our greatest gift later in life is wisdom, in which learning and thought create a worldview that can enrich others. Third, our natural ability at this point is counsel: mentoring, advising, and teaching others, in a way that does

Gaius Gracchus

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, for example, who more than two millennia later gave his name to the American city of Cincinnati, is supposed to have returned from semi-exile in the 450s BCE to become dictator and lead Roman armies to victory against their enemies before nobly retiring straight back to his farm without seeking further political glory.

virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private.

Les fameux sept sages grecs étaient appelés par leurs contemporains sophoi, sapientes, jusqu’à Pythagore. Héraclide du Pont rapporte que Léon, le tyran, étonné de la sagesse de Pythagore, avait demandé à celui-ci quel était son métier. Il répondit qu’il n’exerçait aucun métier, qu’il était philosophe. Léon, ne comprenant pas la signification du