Quotes · Quote card

Quotation from First Oration Against Catiline by Marcus Tullius Cicero

“while they are quiet they approve, while they permit me to speak they vote, while they are silent they are loud and eloquent.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero (spoken by Cicero)

First Oration Against Catiline, Section 21, trans. C. D. Yonge (1856)

Portrait of Marcus Tullius Cicero

Yonge's rendering of cum tacent, clamant: the senators' silence at Cicero's order of exile counts as their verdict.

Citation: "while they are quiet they approve, while they permit me to speak they vote, while they are silent they are loud and eloquent." — Marcus Tullius Cicero, First Oration Against Catiline, Section 21, trans. C. D. Yonge (1856). (id cicero-first-catilinarian-q6)

Portrait: Cicerone denuncia CatilinaCicero Denounces Catiline, Cesare Maccari, Public domain.

Download card (PNG)

Quote card: while they are quiet they approve, while they permit me to speak they vote, whil