But had it not been the case that souls were immortal, it would not have been the souls of all the best men that made the greatest efforts after an immortality of fame.
Cicero: “But had it not been the case that souls were immortal, it would not have been the souls of all the best men that made…”
Editor's note · Context
Arguing for the soul's immortality, Cicero suggests that great men's pursuit of lasting fame implies a belief in an enduring soul.
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More from Cicero
But my soul, I know not how, refusing to be kept down, ever fixed its eyes upon future ages, as though from a conviction that it would begin to live only when it had left the body.
Don't you think that the soul which has the clearer and longer sight sees that it is starting for better things, while the soul whose vision is dimmer does not see it?
Nay, if some god should grant me to renew my childhood from my present age and once more to be crying in my cradle, I would firmly refuse; nor should I in truth be willing, after having, as it were, run the full course, to be recalled from…





