QuoteProject
It might be pardonable to refuse to defend some men, but to defend them negligently is nothing short of criminal.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Negligently defending someone is a serious moral failure, even if refusing to defend them is understandable.

This quote by Cicero emphasizes the importance of responsibility in one’s actions, especially when dealing with matters of justice. It asserts that while it may be acceptable to not come to the aid of certain individuals, doing so without due diligence or care is an ethical breach, potentially leading to severe consequences not just for the individual in question, but for society as a whole.

Themes

DefenseNegligenceJusticeEthicsResponsibility

In practice

Example use cases

During a law lecture discussing the responsibilities of defense attorneys.

More from Marcus Tullius Cicero

Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
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

You have to resign yourself to the fact that you waste a lot of trees before you write anything you really like, and that's just the way it is. It's like learning an instrument, you've got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot, cause I wrote an awful lot before I wrote anything I was really happy with. And read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.
J. K. RowlingRead
When a captive lion steps out of his cage, he comes into a wider world than the lion who has known only the wilds. While he was in captivity, there were only two worlds for him - the world of the cage, and the world outside the cage. Now he is free. He roars. He attacks people. He eats them. Yet he is not satisfied, for there is no third world that is neither the world of the cage nor the world outside the cage.
Yukio MishimaRead
Fail, fail again, fail better.
Samuel BeckettRead
As long as you keep one foot in the real world while the other foot's in a fairy tale, that fairy tale is going to seem kind of attainable.
Aaron SorkinRead
Once you have established yourself as a center of love and kindness radiating throughout your being, which amounts to a cradling of yourself in loving kindness and acceptance, you can dwell here indefinitely, drinking at this fount, bathing it in, renewing yourself, nourishing yourself, enlivening yourself. This can be a profoundly healing practice for body and soul.
Jon Kabat-ZinnRead
The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.
Marianne WilliamsonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.