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three basic principles of Stoicism—that virtue is sufficient for happiness, that nothing except virtue is good, and that the emotions are not to be trusted—three simple rules which, if only men could follow them, would solve all the problems of the world.
“But what about the content of what I say?” Cicero asked. “Surely I will compel attention chiefly by the force of my arguments?” Molon shrugged. “Content does not concern me. Remember Demosthenes: ‘Only three things count in oratory. Delivery, delivery, and again: delivery.’”
He had been humiliated—humiliated by his own vanity—and given brutal evidence of his smallness in the world.
you fools can frolic; I shall work.
praetor.
“You will never conquer Rome, Cicero, if you cannot rule your wife.”
aphorism
if you must do something unpopular, you might as well do it wholeheartedly, for in politics there is no credit to be won by timidity.
Failure was the fuel of his ambition.
“It is perseverance,” he used to say, “and not genius that takes a man to the top. Rome is full of unrecognized geniuses. Only perseverance enables you to move forward in the world.”
“If you are going to kill a dangerous animal, you had better make sure you do it with the first thrust.
the very act of mentioning a thing makes it suddenly seem possible, even plausible.
dyspepsia
even I have to say that I doubt whether the best way to a girl’s heart is through litigation.”
“A word of advice, if I may, from a man ten years your senior. You must not take everything head-on. Very often the best and most important cases never even come to court.
always the perfect Stoic, as long as
nothing went wrong.
carruca.
