Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 10.105:

Not undeservedly was Cicero said by his contemporaries to be king in the courts, and he maintained that among his posterity such that ‘Cicero’ seems like a word for eloquence, and not the name of a man. Let us then look at him, and let it be placed as an example before us that one may know that they have achieved knowledge when they find much pleasure in Cicero.

There is a lot of invention in Asinius Pollio, and even so much attention to detail that some think it seems excessive; there is also enough of consideration and mind in him. He is so far from the resplendence and pleasantness of Cicero that he could seem to be from a previous generation. But Messala is resplendent and shining and in a certain way making a pretense of his nobility in speaking, though possessed of lesser powers.

If only Gaius Caesar had stayed away from the forum, there would have been no one else whose name could be set against Cicero’s. There was such great force in him, such acumen, such quickness, that he appears to have spoken with the same vigor with which he waged war. Yet he decorated all of what he wrote with a marvelous elegance of speech, of to which he was rightly devoted.

Quare non inmerito ab hominibus aetatis suae regnare in iudiciis dictus est, apud posteros vero id consecutus ut Cicero iam non hominis nomen sed eloquentiae habeatur. hunc igitur spectemus, hoc propositum nobis sit exemplum, ille se profecisse sciat cui Cicero valde placebit. Multa in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur, et consilii et animi satis: a nitore et iucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest ut videri possit saeculo prior. At Messala nitidus et candidus et quodam modo praeferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor. C. vero Caesar si foro tantum vacasset, non alius ex nostris contra Ciceronem nominaretur: tanta in eo vis est, id acumen, ea concitatio, ut illum eodem animo dixisse quo bellavit appareat; exornat tamen haec omnia mira sermonis, cuius proprie studiosus fuit, elegantia.

Some unvarnished views on life, as expressed by the epigramist Palladas (c. 4th century CE) and the French moralist La Rochefoucauld (17th century):

[1] Wickedness

Palladas 10.95

I hate the man whose nature is two-fold:
Kind in words, but hostile in his actions.

La Rochefoucauld #197

There are people in whom one couldn’t expect evil without having seen it, but there’s no one in whom it ought to surprise us when we do see it.

[2] Death

Palladas 10.59

The fear of death is quite a painful grief,
And a mortal profits when freed from it.
So don’t lament a man’s exit from life:
There’s no further suffering after death.

La Rochefoucauld #23

Few people know death. One doesn’t ordinarily suffer it in accordance with a resolution, but in keeping with stupidity and custom; what’s more, most men die because they can’t stop themselves dying.

[3] Love

Palladas 11.385

Your love is a sham:
You do it out of fear and need.
Nothing is more untrue than love like that.

La Rochefoucauld #76

True love is like a spiritual apparition: everybody talks about it, but few people have seen it.

[4] Advice

Palladas 10.91

Whenever someone hates a man god loves,
He does something truly absurd:
Manifestly, he arms himself for battle
Against god himself!
From his envy he reaps immense bitterness.
One must love that man whom god loves.

La Rochefoucauld #93

Old people love to dole out good precepts in order to console themselves for no longer being able to set bad examples.

Palladas10.95

μισῶ τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν διπλοῦν πεφυκότα,
χρηστὸν λόγοισι, πολέμιον δὲ τοῖς τρόποις.

10.59

Προσδοκίη θανάτου πολυώδυνός ἐστιν ἀνίη:
τοῦτο δὲ κερδαίνει θνητὸς ἀπολλύμενος.
μὴ τοίνυν κλαύσῃς τὸν ἀπερχόμενον βιότοιο:
οὐδὲν γὰρ θανάτου δεύτερόν ἐστι πάθος.

11.385

πλαστὸν ἔχεις τὸν ἔρωτα, φόβῳ δὲ φιλεῖς καὶ ἀνάγκῃ:
τοῦ δὲ φιλεῖν οὕτως οὐδὲν ἀπιστότερον.

10.91

ὅταν στυγῇ τις ἄνδρα, τὸν θεὸς φιλεῖ,
οὗτος μεγίστην μωρίαν κατεισάγει:
φανερῶς γάρ αὐτῷ τῷ θεῷ κορύσσεται,
χόλον μέγιστον ἐκ φθόνου δεδεγμένος,
δεῖ γὰρ φιλεῖν ἐκεῖνον, ὃν θεὸς φιλεῖ.

La Rochefoucauld #197

Il y a des gens de qui l’on peut ne jamais croire du mal sans l’avoir vu; mais il n’y en a point en qui il nous doive surprendre en le voyant.

#23

Peu de gens connaissent la mort. On ne la souffre pas ordinairement par résolution, mais par stupidité et par coutume; et la plupart des hommes meurent parce qu’on ne peut s’empêcher de mourir.

#76

Il est du véritable amour comme de l’apparition des esprits: tout le monde en parle, mais peu de gens en ont vu.

#93

Les vieillards aiment à donner de bons préceptes, pour se consoler de n’être plus en état de donner de mauvais exemples.

Larry Benn has a B.A. in English Literature from Harvard College, an M.Phil in English Literature from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Making amends for a working life misspent in finance, he’s now a hobbyist in ancient languages and blogs at featsofgreek.blogspot.com.