Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
We should be as careful of our words as of our actions.
Interpretation
Words hold power and should be chosen with care, just like our actions.
This quote emphasizes the importance of being mindful about what we say, as our words can have significant consequences, similar to our actions. Cicero reminds us that communication is a powerful tool, and we must treat it with the same caution that we apply to our physical deeds, recognizing that both can impact others and shape our relationships and reputation.
In practice
During a public speaking event, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of thoughtful speech.
Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defence can actually be just.
Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak.
Nothing contributes to the entertainment of the reader more, than the change of times and the vicissitudes of fortune.
No one has the right to be sorry for himself for a misfortune that strikes everyone.
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 only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.
Moses spent forty years in the king's palace thinking that he was somebody; then he lived forty years in the wilderness finding out that without GOD he was a nobody; finally he spent forty more years discovering how a nobody with GOD can be a somebody.
With gentleness overcome anger. With generosity overcome meanness. With truth overcome deceit.
I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough.
Presumption must be quenched even more than a fire.
Because, as we all know, itβs easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And itβs also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things that weβre not so sure about.
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