Monday, September 19, 2011

"A letter does not blush"



See a beautiful notecard (alternate version) based on this quote in my Zazzle shop:

To Lucceius, Arpinum April 56 BC

Vincenzo Foppa, The Young Cicero Reading
I have often tried to say to you personally what I am about to write, but was prevented by a kind of almost clownish bashfulness. Now that I am not in your presence I shall speak out more boldly: a letter does not blush. I am inflamed with an inconceivably ardent desire, and one, as I think, of which I have no reason to be ashamed, that in a history written by you my name should be conspicuous and frequently mentioned with praise. And though you have often shown me that you meant to do so, yet I hope you will pardon my impatience. For the style of your composition, though I had always entertained the highest expectations of it, has yet surpassed my hopes... [Cicero Letters to Friends 5.12, tr. Shuckburgh]

Also available (t-shirts and mugs):
Meles mellis non curat. ("Honey badger don't care")*
Id quod mater tua dixit non est. ("That's not what your mother said")
Quis pater tuus? ("Who's your daddy?")
O tempora! O mores! ("Shame on the age and its principles!")
Venefica aetatis meae illustratissima sum ("I'm the brightest witch of my age")

*Available in several versions.

I love David Bamber as Cicero:
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