A room without books is like a body without a soul.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was a Roman orator, lawyer and statesman, and one of the most influential writers of Latin. Alongside his speeches he wrote philosophical treatises that carried Greek thought into Latin — among them On Friendship, written after the death of his closest friend. He was killed in the political violence following Caesar's death.
About this theme: Wisdom
In the Western tradition wisdom is almost always defined by what it is not. Socrates is famous for claiming to know that he knew nothing; that was not modesty but method. Knowledge is a set of facts, wisdom is knowing what to do with them — and, more often, knowing when there are not enough of them.
More by Cicero
More on Wisdom
- Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.— Lao Tzu
- An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.— Benjamin Franklin
- Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.— Arthur Schopenhauer
- He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.— Lao Tzu
- Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.— Baruch Spinoza