Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Nature has lent us life at interest, like money, and has fixed no day for its payment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is a temporary gift from nature, and we don't know when we must return it.
In this quote, Cicero emphasizes the transient nature of life, comparing it to a loan that must eventually be repaid. He suggests that, just as we borrow money with the understanding that we have to return it, we borrow life from nature without knowing when our time will come to an end, urging us to appreciate and make the most of the time we have.
Themes
LifeNatureTemporaryAppreciationTime
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about environmental conservation, one could quote this to emphasize the importance of cherishing our planet.
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
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
Look abroad through Nature's range, Nature's mighty law is change.
Robert BurnsRead
Russia! Russia... Everything in you is open, desolate and level; your squat towns barely protrude in the midst of the plains like dots, like counters; there is nothing to tempt or enchant the onlooker's gaze. But what is this inscrutable, mysterious force that draws me to you?
Nikolai GogolRead
Why children?' he asked. 'Why always children? For love to end where it begins is far more beautiful, and Nature knows it.
E. M. ForsterRead
The day, water, sun, moon, night - I do not have to purchase these things with money.
PlautusRead
The traveler fancies he has seen the country. So he has, the outside of it at least; but the angler only sees the inside. The angler only is brought close, face to face with the flower and bird and insect life of the rich riverbanks, the only part of the landscape where the hand of man has never interfered.
Charles KingsleyRead
...recognize and respect Earth's beautiful systems of balance, between the presence of animals on land, the fish in the sea, birds in the air, mankind, water, air, and land. Most importantly there must always be awareness of the actions by people that can disturb this precious balance.
Margaret MeadRead