“Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new, wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome, interpreted to mean ‘more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.”
Can read more on Cicero here.
Comments
According to the link you provided, this quote is not attributable to Cicero. It’s from an imagined conversation between Brutus and Cicero, made up for a speech by a right-wing judge from the Florida Supreme Court, given in 1965. The judge was dissing LBJ’s Great Society and anti-poverty legislation, and generally whining about how immoral he thought the country was getting, putting his own words into the mouth of a great historical orator. Here is the actual speech:
http://www.aapsonline.org/brochures/cicero.htm
The link I attached doesn’t say that. It says that it’s not clear “if this is based in any specific dialogue.” However, that is not to say you are incorrect, there are several other sites that raise questions as to the authenticity. See here, here, and here, for example.
The link calls it a “misattribution”, which means it isn’t Cicero’s words.
You are correct. I had glossed over the section title upon first, second, and third reading. Oh well. 🙂