Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
Whatever that be which thinks, understands, wills, and acts, it is something celestial and divine.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that the human mind and spirit possess a divine quality due to their capacity for thought and action.
Cicero reflects on the essence of humanity, implying that our ability to think, understand, will, and act elevates us beyond mere physical existence. This characterization of the human intellect as 'celestial and divine' recognizes the unique and profound nature of human consciousness, suggesting a higher purpose or origin connected to divine or celestial qualities.
In practice
This quote would be powerful in a discussion about the nature of consciousness in a philosophy class.
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.
We are the eyes of the cosmos. So that in a way, when you look deeply into somebody's eyes, you're looking deep into yourself, and the other person is looking deeply into the same self.
Sugar crystallizes something in our American Soul. It is emblematic of all Industrial Processes. And of the idea of becoming white. White Being equated with pure and βtrueβ it takes a lot of energy to turn brown things into white things. A lot of pressure.
The chief product of an automated society is a widespread and deepening sense of boredom.
To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of how to decide what to believe.
For 6,000 years, these rules have been unquestionably right. And yet we break them every day. People feel that something is wrong in life. There is some kind of atmosphere that makes people now turn to other values. They want to contemplate the basic questions of life, and that is probably the real reason for wanting to tell these stories.
Be careless in your dress if you must, but keep a tidy soul.
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