Cicero Says: You Were Born to Work Hard for Your Country

“I would not have hesitated to toss myself headlong into the gravest storms and thunder for the sake of saving my fellow citizens and to win public tranquility at the expense of my own danger. For our fatherland did not bear and educate us with the intent that it should expect no assistance from us and, serving only our personal interests, provide a safe space for our leisure and a quiet spot for our rest. Rather, it raised us so that it could take the greatest part of our spirit, our intellect, and our counsel for its benefit, and leave to our own private use only as much as was left over.”

non dubitaverim me gravissimis tempestatibus ac paene fulminibus ipsis obvium ferre conservandorum civium causa, meisque propriis periculis parere commune reliquis otium. neque enim hac nos patria lege genuit aut educavit, ut nulla quasi alimenta exspectaret a nobis, ac tantummodo nostris ipsa commodis serviens tutum perfugium otio nostro suppeditaret et tranquillum ad quietem locum, sed ut plurimas et maximas nostri animi ingenii consilii partis ipsa sibi ad utilitatem suam pigneraretur, tantumque nobis in nostrum privatum usum quantum ipsi superesse posset remitteret.