--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I found, for example, that Cicero was…" description: "\"“I found, for example, that Cicero was fond of repeating certain phrases, and these I learned to reduce to a line, or even a few dots--thus proving wha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png" --- # I found, for example, that Cicero was fond of repeating… ![“I found, for example, that Cicero was fond of repeating certain phrases, and these I learned to reduce to a line, or even a few dots--thus proving what most people already know, that politicians essentially say the same thing over and over again.” quote by Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png) > ““I found, for example, that Cicero was fond of repeating certain phrases, and these I learned to reduce to a line, or even a few dots--thus proving what most people already know, that politicians essentially say the same thing over and over again.”” [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Politicians frequently recycle the same rhetoric, reducing discourse to repetitive slogans. **In simple terms:** Politicians repeat themselves. Key Takeaway Seek original ideas in politics. Themes politics communication repetition Mood critical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - voter education - media literacy - campaign analysis Key Concepts rhetoric cynicism Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens demand fresh perspectives? - What role does media play in this cycle? A Different Perspective Repetition can simplify complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Young\] was afterwards accustomed to say, that at no period of his life was he particularly fond of repeating experiments, or even of very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-gurney/young-was-afterwards-accustomed-to-say-that-at-no-period-of-his-life/) Hudson Gurney > [Cicero most reminds me of Harold Wilson. Both men knew how to keep the show on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-most-reminds-me-of-harold-wilson-both-men-knew-how-to-keep-the/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“Well, good luck to you both. Rome will be the winner whoever is the victor'. Cicero began to move away but then checked himself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/well-good-luck-to-you-both-rome-will-be-the-winner-whoever-is-the/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“Cicero himself appeared, hand in hand with Tullia, nodding good morning to everyone, greeting each by name (“the first rule in politics, Tiro: never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-himself-appeared-hand-in-hand-with-tullia-nodding-good-morning/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“Cicero often asked me to perform small services for Milo during that campaign. For example, I went back through our files and prepared lists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-often-asked-me-to-perform-small-services-for-milo-during-that/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“Surely the greatest mercy granted us by Providence is our ignorance of the future. Imagine if we knew the outcome of our hopes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/surely-the-greatest-mercy-granted-us-by-providence-is-our-ignorance/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [Another of Cicero's maxims was that if you must do something unpopular, you might as well do it wholeheartedly, for in politics there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/another-of-cicero-s-maxims-was-that-if-you-must-do-something/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [Cicero smiled at us. 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And it's not good. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-know-politicians-i-know-politicians-believe-it-or-not-better-than/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [If we meet an honest and intelligent politician, a dozen, a hundred, we say they aren't like politicians at all, and our category of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/if-we-meet-an-honest-and-intelligent-politician-a-dozen-a-hundred-we/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Usually, you know how politicians are. Whenever they are around, you will see at least 10-15 people by their side. But with Kamal Haasan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delhi-ganesh/usually-you-know-how-politicians-are-whenever-they-are-around-you/) [Delhi Ganesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delhi-ganesh/) > [“As far as I know, only politicians can make this kind of miracle staying more than 30 years of their entire life lying or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-vanderbuilt/as-far-as-i-know-only-politicians-can-make-this-kind-of-miracle/) [Frederick Vanderbuilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-vanderbuilt/) > [You never know with politicians what they are really saying. And I don't say that in a negative way-they have an appalling job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/you-never-know-with-politicians-what-they-are-really-saying-and-i-don/) [James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/) > [I don't know what politicians are like, but I imagine, having played one, that you have to have a really wide view of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rekha-sharma/i-don-t-know-what-politicians-are-like-but-i-imagine-having-played/) [Rekha Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rekha-sharma/) ## More by Robert Harris > [“Men mistook measurement for understanding. And they always had to put themselves at the center of everything. That was their greatest conceit. The earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/men-mistook-measurement-for-understanding-and-they-always-had-to-put/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [If one first gives himself to the Lord, all other giving is easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/if-one-first-gives-himself-to-the-lord-all-other-giving-is-easy/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“He felt more human with his boots on. A man can face the world with something on his feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/he-felt-more-human-with-his-boots-on-a-man-can-face-the-world-with/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [Cicero most reminds me of Harold Wilson. Both men knew how to keep the show on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-most-reminds-me-of-harold-wilson-both-men-knew-how-to-keep-the/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [The financial world is at the cutting edge of high technology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/the-financial-world-is-at-the-cutting-edge-of-high-technology/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plans minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then to go to bed ... there is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/to-choose-one-s-victims-to-prepare-one-s-plans-minutely-to-slake-an/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“Nature has granted man no better gift than the shortness of life. The senses grow dull, the limbs are numb, sight, bearing, gait, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/nature-has-granted-man-no-better-gift-than-the-shortness-of-life-the/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“A crock of shit,” Rick had called it. But actually this was worse. Shit, to quote Gore Vidal, has its own integrity. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/a-crock-of-shit-rick-had-called-it-but-actually-this-was-worse-shit/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“... unfortunately, freedom alone is not enough, by far. If there is a shortage of bread, a shortage of butter and fats, a shortage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/unfortunately-freedom-alone-is-not-enough-by-far-if-there-is-a/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [It is perseverance, and not genius that takes a man to the top. Rome is full of unrecognized geniuses. Only perseverance enables you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/it-is-perseverance-and-not-genius-that-takes-a-man-to-the-top-rome-is/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“No one can really claim to know politics properly until he has stayed up all night writing a speech for delivery the following day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/no-one-can-really-claim-to-know-politics-properly-until-he-has-stayed/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [People perish. Books are immortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/people-perish-books-are-immortal/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [Does a name stick because it suits a man or does the man, unconsciously, evolve into his name?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/does-a-name-stick-because-it-suits-a-man-or-does-the-man/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“He glanced around the reading room and closed his eyes, trying to keep hold of the past for a minute longer, a fattening and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/he-glanced-around-the-reading-room-and-closed-his-eyes-trying-to-keep/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [The natural impulse of men is to follow and whoever has the strongest sense of purpose will always dominate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/the-natural-impulse-of-men-is-to-follow-and-whoever-has-the-strongest/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) [Explore all 184 Robert Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) ## More Cicero quotes > [What Cicero said of men-that they are like wines, age souring the bad, and bettering the good-we can say of misfortune, that it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/what-cicero-said-of-men-that-they-are-like-wines-age-souring-the-bad/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [Cicero most reminds me of Harold Wilson. Both men knew how to keep the show on the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-most-reminds-me-of-harold-wilson-both-men-knew-how-to-keep-the/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [To live without having a Cicero and a Tacitus at hand seems to me as if it was aprivation of one of my limbs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/to-live-without-having-a-cicero-and-a-tacitus-at-hand-seems-to-me-as/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [“No one can really claim to know politics properly until he has stayed up all night writing a speech for delivery the following day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/no-one-can-really-claim-to-know-politics-properly-until-he-has-stayed/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [I studied Latin in high school, and I was reading stuff from Cicero. And that signal took a few thousand years to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/i-studied-latin-in-high-school-and-i-was-reading-stuff-from-cicero/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [“Cicero considera ca tot ce se intampla dupa o lunga asteptare e mai usor de suportat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristian-niculcea/cicero-considera-ca-tot-ce-se-intampla-dupa-o-lunga-asteptare-e-mai/) [Cristian Niculcea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristian-niculcea/) > [Cicero, in his treatise concerning the Nature of the Gods, having said that three Jupiters were enumerated by theologians, adds that the third was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/cicero-in-his-treatise-concerning-the-nature-of-the-gods-having-said/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [Who does not more admire Cicero as an author than as a consul of Rome?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/who-does-not-more-admire-cicero-as-an-author-than-as-a-consul-of-rome/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“The sword must yield to the toga, Cicero had told the Roman Senate, and the friars in the Philippines thought a cassock was as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-rizal/the-sword-must-yield-to-the-toga-cicero-had-told-the-roman-senate-and/) [José Rizal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-rizal/) > [“And yet in the weakest of men, in moments when they are alone and themselves, I have found veins of strength like gold in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edward-williams/and-yet-in-the-weakest-of-men-in-moments-when-they-are-alone-and/) John Edward Williams > [“Speak as educated nature suggests to you, and you will do well, but let it be educated and not raw, rude, uncultivated nature. Demosthenes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/speak-as-educated-nature-suggests-to-you-and-you-will-do-well-but-let/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [It is observed by Cicero, that men of the greatest and most shining parts are most actuated by ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/it-is-observed-by-cicero-that-men-of-the-greatest-and-most-shining/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“For what is the life of a man, if it is not interwoven with the life of former generations by as sense of history.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-goldsworthy/for-what-is-the-life-of-a-man-if-it-is-not-interwoven-with-the-life/) [Adrian Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-goldsworthy/) > [ “It is more important to have greatly extended the frontiers of the Roman spirit than the frontiers of the Roman empire. \[Speaking of Cicero\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-more-important-to-have-greatly-extended-the-frontiers-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cicero smiled at us. 'The art of life is to deal with problems as they arise, rather than destory one's spirit by worrying about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/cicero-smiled-at-us-the-art-of-life-is-to-deal-with-problems-as-they/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) Browse all 63 Cicero quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I found, for example, that Cicero was fond of repeating certain phrases, and these I learned to reduce to a line, or even a few dots--thus proving what most people already know, that politicians essentially say the same thing over and over again.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Harris" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond-of-repeating-certain-phrases/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cicero" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond-of-repeating-certain-phrases/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21f/robert-harris-2039_cicero_i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond_2912506.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I found, for example, that Cicero was fond of repeating certain phrases, and these I learned to reduce to a…” — Robert Harris", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Harris", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I found, for example, that Cicero...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond-of-repeating-certain-phrases/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/i-found-for-example-that-cicero-was-fond-of-repeating-certain-phrases/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```