
Cicero's writings nudged on the Renaissance and have had a lasting impact on politics, literature, oration and philosophy, influencing Enlightenment philosophers such as John Lock, David Hume and Montesquieu, as well as Thomas Jefferson and many of our American founders.
Cicero was born in 106 B.C. and although he worked with Mark Antony to overthrow Julius Caesar and return to a traditional Republic form of government, after Caesar's death he engaged in a power struggle with Mark Antony, attacking him in a series of speeches and subsequently was declared an enemy of the state and murdered in 43 B.C.
Some of his best loved quotes:-
“History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.”
“What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.”
“The more laws, the less justice.”
“Liberty consists in the power of doing that which is permitted by the law.”
“The enemy is within the gates; it is with our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend.”
“Nothing is more unreliable than the populace, nothing more obscure than human intentions, nothing more deceptive than the whole electoral system.”
“In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.”
"True nobility is exempt from fear.”
"A room without books is like a body without a soul.”