Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
That he who hath the loan of money has not repaid it, and he who has repaid has not the loan; but he who has acknowledged a kindness has it still, and he who has a feeling of it has requited it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Cicero suggests that financial transactions are temporary, but gratitude and kindness last longer.
This quote by Cicero reflects on the nature of debts and kindness. While monetary loans may be repaid, the acknowledgment and feeling of gratitude for a kindness remain with a person indefinitely. It emphasizes the enduring value of kind acts over material transactions, suggesting that emotional bonds and recognition of goodwill create lasting connections that surpass the fleeting nature of financial dealings.
Themes
KindnessGratitudeLoansDebtAcknowledgmentMoney
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of appreciation and kindness in our communities.
More from Marcus Tullius Cicero
All quotes →Those 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
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.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Similar quotes
Many an individual has turned from the mean, personal, acquisitive point of view to one that sees society as a whole and works for its benefit. If there has been such a change in one person, there can be the same change in many.
Mahatma GandhiRead
She felt a stealing sense of fatigue as she walked; the sparkle had died out of her, and the taste of life was stale on her lips. She hardly knew what she had been seeking, or why the failure to find it had so blotted the light from her sky: she was only aware of a vague sense of failure, of an inner isolation deeper than the loneliness about her.
Edith WhartonRead
Definitions.... are never really needed, and rarely of any use
Karl PopperRead
Freedom is indivisible. Whites can't enjoy their separate freedoms. They spend too much time and resources defending those freedoms instead of enjoying them.
Desmond TutuRead
I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off.
Margaret AtwoodRead
God created infinity, and man, unable to understand infinity, had to invent finite sets.
Gian-Carlo RotaRead