Two distinctive traits especially identify beyond a doubt a strong and dominant character. One trait is contempt for external circumstances, when one is convinced that men ought to respect, to desire, and to pursue only what is moral and right, that men should be subject to nothing, not to another man, not to some disturbing passion, not to Fortune. The second trait, when your character has the disposition I outlined just now, is to perform the kind of services that are significant and most beneficial; but they should also be services that are a severe challenge, that are filled with ordeals, and that endanger not only your life but also the many comforts that make life attractive. Of these two traits, all the glory, magnificence, and the advantage, too, let us not forget, are in the second, while the drive and the discipline that make men great are in the former. . Marcus Tullius Cicero
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More Quotes By Marcus Tullius Cicero
  1. While there's life, there's hope.
  2. The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.
  3. It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.
  4. Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.
  5. To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one’s self to die.
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