"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself."
"Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed."
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Source: Marcus Tullius Cicero (1750). “Thoughts of Cicero: On the Following Subjects, Viz. I. Religion. II. Man. III. Conscience. IV. The Passions. V. Wisdom. VI. Probity. VII. Eloquence. VIII. Friendship. IX. Old Age. X. Death. XI. Scipio's Dream. XII. Miscellaneous Thoughts”, p.213
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"Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century: Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others; Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected; Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it; Refusing to set aside trivial preferences; Neglecting development and refinement of the mind; Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do."
"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the 'new, wonderful good society' which shall now be Rome, interpreted to mean 'more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.'"
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