Cicero

Shall a player have regard to this in choosing his rôle upon the stage, and a wise man fail to do so in selecting his part in life?

For the more peculiarly his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

If we take this into consideration, we shall see that it is each man's duty to weigh well what are his own peculiar traits of character, to regulate these properly, and not to wish to try how another man's would suit him.

For it is of no avail to fight against one's nature or to aim at what is impossible of attainment.

For we must so act as not to oppose the universal laws of human nature, but, while safeguarding those, to follow the bent of our own particular nature; and even if other careers should be better and nobler, we may still regulate our own…

There are others still who will stoop to anything, truckle to anybody, if only they may gain their ends.

And if we will only bear in mind the superiority and dignity of our nature, we shall realize how wrong it is to abandon ourselves to excess and to live in luxury and voluptuousness, and how right it is to live in thrift, self-denial…

One's physical comforts and wants, therefore, should be ordered according to the demands of health and strength, not according to the calls of pleasure.

Then, too, certain bounds must be observed in our amusements and we must be careful not to carry things too far and, swept away by our passions, lapse into some shameful excess.

Again, every action ought to be free from undue haste or carelessness; neither ought we to do anything for which we cannot assign a reasonable motive; for in these words we have practically a definition of duty.

For it is only when they agree with Nature's laws that we should give our approval to the movements not only of the body, but still more of the spirit.

It is the function of justice not to do wrong to one's fellow-men; of considerateness, not to wound their feelings; and in this the essence of propriety is best seen.

For indifference to public opinion implies not merely self-sufficiency, but even total lack of principle.

What is done in a manly and courageous spirit seems becoming to a man and proper; what is done in a contrary fashion is at once immoral and improper.

To be mistaken, on the other hand, to miss the truth, to fall into error, to be led astray--that is as improper as to be deranged and lose one's mind.

For whatever propriety may be, it is manifested only when there is pre-existing moral rectitude.

By observing these rules, one may live in magnificence, dignity, and independence, and yet in honour, truth and charity toward all.

For it is easy in this way to deceive ourselves, since we thus come to think ourselves duly entitled to praise; and to this frame of mind a thousand delusions may be traced, when men are puffed up with conceit and expose themselves to…

Under such circumstances also we must beware of lending an ear to sycophants or allowing them to impose upon us with their flattery.

But it is a fine thing to keep an unruffled temper, an unchanging mien, and the same cast of countenance in every condition of life; this, history tells us, was characteristic of Socrates and no less of Gaius Laelius.

For it is as much a sign of weakness to give way to one's feelings in success as it is in adversity.

Again, when fortune smiles and the stream of life flows according to our wishes, let us diligently avoid all arrogance, haughtiness, and pride.

But in reality, anger is in every circumstance to be eradicated; and it is to be desired that they who administer the government should be like the laws, which are led to inflict punishment not by wrath but by justice.

For if anyone proceeds in a passion to inflict punishment, he will never observe that happy mean which lies between excess and defect.

On the other hand, if punishment or correction must be administered, it need not be insulting; it ought to have regard to the welfare of the state, not to the personal satisfaction of the man who administers the punishment or reproof.