--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one dances while he is sober. Unless…" description: "\"“No one dances while he is sober. Unless he happens to be a lunatic. -Cicero”\" — Stacy Schiff" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png" --- # No one dances while he is sober. Unless he happens to be a… ![“No one dances while he is sober. Unless he happens to be a lunatic. -Cicero” quote by Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png) > ““No one dances while he is sober. Unless he happens to be a lunatic. -Cicero”” [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cicero humorously suggests only the insane dance while sober, implying dance is linked to altered states or madness. **In simple terms:** Only lunatics dance while sober, jokingly. Key Takeaway Dance often needs freedom from restraint. Themes humor philosophy dance sobriety Mood playful thoughtful Type aphorical satirical When to use this quote - party scenes - performance art - therapy sessions - social gatherings Key Concepts social norms psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does “dance” symbolize beyond movement? - Is sobriety truly a barrier? A Different Perspective May trivialize serious dance traditions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cicero/) [Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dance/) [Dances Sober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dances-sober-1207812/) [Lunatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lunatic/) [Lunatic Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lunatic-cicero-2231154/) [Sober Unless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sober-unless-1207813/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [No one dances sober, unless he is insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/no-one-dances-sober-unless-he-is-insane/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/almost-nobody-dances-sober-unless-they-happen-to-be-insane/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane. H. P. LOVECRAFT, attributed, Telling It Like It Is Dancing is very important nowadays.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/almost-nobody-dances-sober-unless-they-happen-to-be-insane-h-p/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [For hardly any man dances when sober, unless he is insane. Nor does he dance while alone, nor at a respectable and moderate party.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/for-hardly-any-man-dances-when-sober-unless-he-is-insane-nor-does-he/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The vanity extended most of all to his library, arguably the real love of Cicero's life. It is difficult to name anything in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/the-vanity-extended-most-of-all-to-his-library-arguably-the-real-love/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edward-williams/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Stacy Schiff > [As always, an educated woman was a dangerous woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/as-always-an-educated-woman-was-a-dangerous-woman/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Recently a study proved that working from a larger, less cluttered computer screen increases concentration. I could have told them that. And yes, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/recently-a-study-proved-that-working-from-a-larger-less-cluttered/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“She did not believe Fate as painstaking as her husband; she was more inclined to take matters into her own hands. She had ample…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/she-did-not-believe-fate-as-painstaking-as-her-husband-she-was-more/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/what-we-know-about-cleopatra-s-looks-is-based-purely-on-her-coin/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [No one in the modern world controls the wealth or territory that Cleopatra did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-in-the-modern-world-controls-the-wealth-or-territory-that/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Against a powerful enchantress there is no contest. Against a woman who ensnares a man in the coils of her serpentine intelligence - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/against-a-powerful-enchantress-there-is-no-contest-against-a-woman/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Motherhood is always an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/motherhood-is-always-an-act-of-courage/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dangerous-intersections-in-history/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Nabokov complained he was afflicted with total recall, an affliction of which he could be miraculously cured by the presence of a biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/nabokov-complained-he-was-afflicted-with-total-recall-an-affliction/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“History existed to be retold, with more panache but not necessarily greater accuracy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/history-existed-to-be-retold-with-more-panache-but-not-necessarily/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Véra assumed her married name almost as a stage name; rarely has matrimony so much represented a profession. It was one of the ironies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/v-ra-assumed-her-married-name-almost-as-a-stage-name-rarely-has/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [When a woman teams up with a snake a moral storm threatens somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/when-a-woman-teams-up-with-a-snake-a-moral-storm-threatens-somewhere/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [The interesting thing about Cleopatra is that she is such a shape-shifter. I mean through history we've all molded her to our times and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/the-interesting-thing-about-cleopatra-is-that-she-is-such-a-shape/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [parenting is an exercise in unintended consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/parenting-is-an-exercise-in-unintended-consequences/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Strangely enough, politics may just be the one realm in which having kids imposes no penalty on women. Kids are practically a necessity. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/strangely-enough-politics-may-just-be-the-one-realm-in-which-having/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) [Explore all 86 Stacy Schiff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cicero/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No one dances while he is sober. Unless he happens to be a lunatic. -Cicero”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stacy Schiff" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-he-happens-to-be-a-lunatic/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cicero" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-he-happens-to-be-a-lunatic/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b01/stacy-schiff-7881_cicero_no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-h_2636306.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No one dances while he is sober. Unless he happens to be a lunatic. -Cicero” — Stacy Schiff", "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": "Stacy Schiff", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“No one dances while he is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-he-happens-to-be-a-lunatic/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-dances-while-he-is-sober-unless-he-happens-to-be-a-lunatic/#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 } } ] } ```