--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would not live over my hours past…" description: "\"I would not live over my hours past ... not unto Cicero's ground because I have lived them well, but for fear I should live them worse.\" — Thomas Browne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png" --- # I would not live over my hours past ... not unto Cicero's… ![“I would not live over my hours past ... not unto Cicero's ground because I have lived them well, but for fear I should live them worse.” quote by Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png) > “I would not live over my hours past ... not unto Cicero's ground because I have lived them well, but for fear I should live them worse.” [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He fears future decline despite past fulfillment, urging vigilance over moral decline. **In simple terms:** Live well now to avoid future regret. Key Takeaway Cultivate present virtue. Themes mortality ethics self‑reflection Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal journaling - ethical decision making - legacy planning Key Concepts temporal perspective moral vigilance Questions to Reflect On - What actions ensure a good future? - How do you measure a life well lived? A Different Perspective May overlook external circumstances affecting future. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) ## Related quotes > [“Fear, is a horrible place to live in, and much worse die in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/fear-is-a-horrible-place-to-live-in-and-much-worse-die-in/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [“I've lived through such terrible times and there are people who live through much worse. But you see them living anyway. When they're more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-ve-lived-through-such-terrible-times-and-there-are-people-who-live/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [In the world I live in, 'not worse' is nearly as good as 'better'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/in-the-world-i-live-in-not-worse-is-nearly-as-good-as-better/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“It was a strange thing. So many people on Gorse lived in fear—especially Sullustans and others of smaller stature. Yet working with the Mynocks,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jackson-miller/it-was-a-strange-thing-so-many-people-on-gorse-lived-in-fear/) [John Jackson Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jackson-miller/) > [“A full night’s sleep without money worries was a luxury. They were afraid to answer the door to strangers as they often could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annette-j-dunlea/a-full-night-s-sleep-without-money-worries-was-a-luxury-they-were/) [Annette J Dunlea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annette-j-dunlea/) > [“A life lived in fear is a life half-lived"--a Spanish proverb”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joann-hornak/a-life-lived-in-fear-is-a-life-half-lived-a-spanish-proverb/) JoAnn Hornak > [“A cloud, hitherto unseen, came upon the moon, and hovered an instant like a dark hand before a face.The illusion went with it, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/a-cloud-hitherto-unseen-came-upon-the-moon-and-hovered-an-instant/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Now they stumbled in the shackles of humanity, lived in a fear that never died, fretted by a law they could not understand; their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/now-they-stumbled-in-the-shackles-of-humanity-lived-in-a-fear-that/) [H. 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Lived with anxiety a lot, lived with the things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-rampling/i-know-a-lot-about-fear-in-itself-and-lived-with-fear-a-lot-lived/) [Charlotte Rampling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-rampling/) > [When I nearly died it made me think – this can happen again any second. I better hurry and do what I want. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/when-i-nearly-died-it-made-me-think-this-can-happen-again-any-second/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [A life lived in fear is a life half lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baz-luhrmann/a-life-lived-in-fear-is-a-life-half-lived/) [Baz Luhrmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baz-luhrmann/) > [“Having always lived in fear of being surprised by the worst, I have tried in every circumstance to get a head start, flinging myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/having-always-lived-in-fear-of-being-surprised-by-the-worst-i-have/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) ## More by Thomas Browne > [Be substantially great in thyself, and more than thou appearest unto others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/be-substantially-great-in-thyself-and-more-than-thou-appearest-unto/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/man-is-a-noble-animal-splendid-in-ashes-and-pompous-in-the-grave/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Not to be content with Life is the unsatisfactory state of those which destroy themselves; who being afraid to live, run blindly upon their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/not-to-be-content-with-life-is-the-unsatisfactory-state-of-those/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“It is we that are blind, not Fortune: because our eye is too dim to discover the mystery of her effects, we foolishly paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/it-is-we-that-are-blind-not-fortune-because-our-eye-is-too-dim-to/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“That there must be heresies is true, not onely in our Church, but also in any other; even in Doctrines hereticall there will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/that-there-must-be-heresies-is-true-not-onely-in-our-church-but-also/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Think it more satisfactory to live richly than die rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/think-it-more-satisfactory-to-live-richly-than-die-rich/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Think not thy time short in this world, since the world itself is not long. The created world is but a small parenthesis in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/think-not-thy-time-short-in-this-world-since-the-world-itself-is-not/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Let him have the key of thy heart, who hath the lock of his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/let-him-have-the-key-of-thy-heart-who-hath-the-lock-of-his-own/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“There is a musicke where-ever there is a harmony, order or proportion; and thus farre we may maintain the musick of the spheares; for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/there-is-a-musicke-where-ever-there-is-a-harmony-order-or-proportion/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Death is the cure for all diseases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/death-is-the-cure-for-all-diseases/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [Lord deliver me from myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/lord-deliver-me-from-myself/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [The mortalist enemy unto knowledge, and that which hath done the greatest execution unto truth, has been a preemptory adhesion unto authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/the-mortalist-enemy-unto-knowledge-and-that-which-hath-done-the/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [To ruminate upon evils, to make critical notes upon injuries, and be too acute in their apprehensions, is to add unto our own tortures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/to-ruminate-upon-evils-to-make-critical-notes-upon-injuries-and-be/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [That miracles have been, I do believe; that they may yet be wrought by the living, I do not deny; but I have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/that-miracles-have-been-i-do-believe-that-they-may-yet-be-wrought-by/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure of all diseases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/we-all-labour-against-our-own-cure-for-death-is-the-cure-of-all/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) [Explore all 192 Thomas Browne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) ## 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 would not live over my hours past ... not unto Cicero's ground because I have lived them well, but for fear I should live them worse.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Browne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not-unto-cicero-s-ground-because/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cicero" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not-unto-cicero-s-ground-because/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/thomas-browne-2006_cicero_i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not_3097319.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would not live over my hours past ... not unto Cicero's ground because I have lived them well, but for…” — Thomas Browne", "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": "Thomas Browne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I would not live over my...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not-unto-cicero-s-ground-because/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/i-would-not-live-over-my-hours-past-not-unto-cicero-s-ground-because/#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 } } ] } ```