Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
As we near the end of life, seeking more advice can be pointless since our journey is almost complete.
Cicero reflects on the nature of life and wisdom, suggesting that as we age and approach the end of our journey, it becomes less beneficial to gather advice or prepare for the future. Instead, he implies that we should focus on living in the present and utilizing the knowledge we have already accumulated, as the culmination of experiences should guide us in our final days rather than adding new provisions or considerations at a late stage in life.
Themes
WisdomAgingLifeJourneyExperience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a retirement speech to emphasize the importance of living fully in one's later years.
More from Marcus Tullius Cicero
All quotes βThose wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defence can actually be just.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Nothing contributes to the entertainment of the reader more, than the change of times and the vicissitudes of fortune.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
No one has the right to be sorry for himself for a misfortune that strikes everyone.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Loyalty is what we seek in friendship.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Similar quotes
Iβve seen - both in myself and my competitors - how satisfaction can lead to a lack of vigilance, then to mistakes and missed opportunities.
Garry KasparovRead
You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.
Marilyn MonroeRead
Also, it's good to have more than one profession, in case your own profession goes out of style. A Wall Street trader who's also a belly dancer will do a lot better than a trader who winds up driving a taxi.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
Relaxing with something as familiar as loneliness is good discipline for realizing the profundity of the unresolved moments of our lives. We are cheating ourselves when we run away from the ambiguity of loneliness.....Rather than persecuting yourself or feeling that something terribly wrong is happening, right there in the moment of sadness and longing, could you relax and touch the limitless space of the human heart?
Pema ChodronRead
Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.
Swami VivekanandaRead
The mind that becomes soiled in youth can never again be washed clean. I know this by my own experience, & to this day I cherish an unappeased bitterness against the unfaithful guardians of my young life, who not only permitted but compelled me to read an unexpurgated Bible through before I was 15 years old. None can do that and ever draw a clean sweet breath again on this side of the grave.
Mark TwainRead