Biography

(106 BC -- 43 BC) Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer who vainly tried to uphold republican principles in the final civil wars that destroyed the republic of Rome. His writings include books of rhetoric, orations, philosophical and political treatises, and letters. He is remembered in modern times as the greatest Roman orator and innovator of what became known as Ciceronian rhetoric.

Q: Do these lofty mystical principles help us in daily matters, such as the solving of problems and in the making of necessary decisions? Heavenly ideas have their place, but we need down-to-earth assistance.

A: The contemplation of celestial things will make a man both speak and think more sublimely and magnificently when he descends to human affairs.

Q: Please suggest a technique for making the mind the master of any task which the hands are required to do.

A: Careful attention to one thing often proves superior to genius.

Q: Apparently we use the wrong tool in trying to solve our problems. Please identify a wrong tool.

A: He employs his emotion who can make no use of his reason.

Q: That is a perfect reason for resolving to live with an independent mind.

A: He who hangs on to the errors of the ignorant multitude, must not be counted among the great man.

Q: You say that the false must go before the true can come. What particular falseness can we work against in order to find self-release?

A: Every man's nature is concealed with many folds of disguise, and covered with various veils. His brows, his eyes, and very often his countenance, are deceitful, and his speech is most commonly a lie.

Q: I have noticed that the sighting of an attractive object of any kind arouses my desire to possess it, which is then followed by the painful realization that I cannot have it. What can I do about this punishing mental process?

A: It is proof of great talents to recall the mind from the senses, and to separate thought from habit.

Q: What can we do when we feel far away from secure circumstances?

A: Exile is terrible to those who have, as it were, a limited habitation; but it is not terrible to those who look up on the whole globe as one city.

Q: I resisted it for a long time, but the mental dawn is beginning to break in one area. I now see why we are warned against those who love to publicly praise goodness and kindness.

A: It is difficult to persuade mankind that the love of virtue is the love of themselves.

Q: So we can describe a right life as one which follows no rules outside of natural and beneficial rules?

A: Such is the picture of a beautiful lake, and could we see it with our own eyes, as Plato says, great would be our desire to possess Wisdom.

Q: What should be our attitude towards the childish enthusiasms of society, for example, the enthusiasms of one pressure group against another pressure group?

A: Reason shall prevail with me more than popular opinion.

Q: You have said that many of these ideas may seem negative at first, but turn out to be the very map to the treasure. Will you please cite an instance of this?

A: The precept, "Know thyself" was not solely intended to abolish the pride of men, but also that we might understand our own value.

Q: I want to leave the disastrous battleground of society, but need more power than I now possess.

A: How great is the power of Truth! Of its own power it can easily defend itself against all the ingenuity of cunning and wisdom of men, and against the treacherous plots of all the world.

Q: I would appreciate having a thought to call upon whenever I feel discouraged over my self-work.

A: Nothing is more delightful than the light of truth.

Q: It is a great relief from false responsibility towards others to hear that a man must place his own mental maturity before everything else. I believe you mean that we can never give more goodness than that which we actually possess in ourselves.

A: You will be of as much worth to others as you are to yourself.

Q: Then there is at least a small part of us that always wants to know and do what is right?

A: Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.

Cicero's Answer: Mystic and religious teachers often use lofty terms to describe the other kind of life, such as referring to it as the kingdom of heaven. Will you please describe this same state in everyday language?

A: Health of mind.