The higher we are placed, the more humbly should we walk.
 Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Duties (44 BC). copy citation

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Author Marcus Tullius Cicero
Source On Duties
Topic status humility
Date 44 BC
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Walter Miller
Weblink http://www.constitution.org/rom/de_officiis.htm

Context

“Philip, king of Macedon, I observe, however surpassed by his son in achievements and fame, was superior to him in affability and refinement. Philip, accordingly, was always great; Alexander, often infamously bad. There seems to be sound advice, therefore, in this word of warning: "The higher we are placed, the more humbly should we walk." Panaetius tells us that Africanus, his pupil and friend, used to say: "As, when horses have become mettlesome and unmanageable on account of their frequent participation in battles, their owners put them in the hands of trainers to make them more tractable; so men, who through prosperity have become restive and over self-confident, ought to be put into the training-ring, so to speak, of reason and learning, that they may be brought to comprehend the frailty of human affairs and the fickleness of fortune."” source

Meaning and analysis

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