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    galveston's Avatar
    galveston Posts: 451, Reputation: 60
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    #1

    Feb 13, 2010, 10:03 AM
    Can anyone verify this quote?
    Did Cicero actually say this?

    "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." - Marcus Tulius Cicero - 55 BC
    cdad's Avatar
    cdad Posts: 12,700, Reputation: 1438
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    #2

    Feb 13, 2010, 12:26 PM

    I don't see it here. But he does have some great quotes attributed to him.

    Ref:
    Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes
    paraclete's Avatar
    paraclete Posts: 2,706, Reputation: 173
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    #3

    Feb 13, 2010, 03:25 PM
    Are you sure we are talking about Rome, it sounds like we are talking about present day government, have we learned nothing in two millennia
    tomder55's Avatar
    tomder55 Posts: 1,742, Reputation: 346
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    #4

    Feb 13, 2010, 06:11 PM
    I have not seen that quote attributed to him .
    More likely it is one of the many variants of the quote that originated from Taylor Caldwell's fictionalized account of Cicero called 'A Pillar of Iron'.

    It seems improbable that this line was not concocted in the modern era :
    the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt
    TUT317's Avatar
    TUT317 Posts: 657, Reputation: 76
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    #5

    Feb 13, 2010, 06:16 PM

    Another possibility is that it could be from William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar'. The use of the word "lest" could be a clue.
    galveston's Avatar
    galveston Posts: 451, Reputation: 60
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    #6

    Feb 13, 2010, 08:39 PM

    A friend of mine who is good at research has emailed me that the parts about foreign aid and the budget don't apply, but that the other parts could very well be.

    Rome did go bankrupt.

    The USSR went bankrupt.

    We seem hell-bent on following the same path to oblivion.
    tomder55's Avatar
    tomder55 Posts: 1,742, Reputation: 346
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    #7

    Feb 14, 2010, 03:15 AM

    So what is left is the arrogance of officialdom.

    Yes that appears to be ageless.
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