"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and given him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the new wonderful good society which shall now be Rome's, interpreted to mean more money, more ease, more security, and more living fatly at the expense of the industrious."
by:
Marcus Tullius Cicero
(106-43 B.C.) Roman Statesman, Philosopher and Orator
Source:
Misattributed. The quote is not from Cicero's actual writing, but from a speech entitled Cicero's Prognosis delivered by Justice Millard Caldwell of the Florida Supreme Court to the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. see http://www.aapsonline.org/brochures/cicero.htm
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Reader comments about this quote:
A Detroit woman I saw on Television during the 08 campaign: "Obama gonna fill my tank and pay my mortgage". I wonder how that worked out for her...
 -- J Carlton, Calgary     
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    The best description of this era I've ever seen. 2,000 years ago Cicero figured it out. 2,000 years later the greatest country in the world is re-living the same problem. Apparently people do not change. GJE
     -- Gary Enright, Weston, MO     
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    The more things change the more they stay the same.
     -- jim k, Austin, Tx     
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    I agree. I've never heard our current situation described better.
     -- Robin, Spokane     
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     -- Anonymous, Mannington      
    I totally agree! We certainly have not learn from our mistakes
     -- Nan, Honey Grove, TX     
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    While we the people are responsible for the mess we are in, it should be remembered that the battle for hearts and minds is carried out 24 hours a day, every day, until all are conditioned to demand their servitude. After all, humans are as easily domesticated as sheep, and the ruling class has always known this since the earliest beginnings of recorded history. Individual freedom is a relatively new concept, only a couple hundred years old and still ridiculed by those that pull the strings and the marionettes they control..
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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    History repeats itself. America is officially the new Rome!
     -- Dwain, Phoenix     
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    This is falsely attributed.
     -- Alex S     
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    Trending now, in the middle class near you.
     -- Afactor, Dublin, Ca     
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    Those words were never uttered by Cicero, however, and the reason no one ever quoted them as such until about fifty years ago is because they weren't written until 1965.
    Read more at http://www.snopes.com/quotes/cicero.asp#VA7XrlsZvFPmjoP4.99
     -- Classic Student, New York, NY     
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