As Britannica reported, Cato the Younger was known as Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis and was born in 95 BCE and died in 46 BCE. His grandfather was Cato the Censor, better known as Cato the Elder, who was a Roman statesman known for his conservative and anti-Hellenic policies.
Stoic teachings are all about accepting that you cannot control most things outside of yourself. This includes how others respond to or treat you, what the universe has in store for you and—above all—death. It comes for us all, and the Stoics were very big on understanding this and working to accept it. This definitely comes across in Cato the Younger’s life and his end; he was also staunch in his morals and what he deemed as correct, which is one of the only things we can control in this life. And for today’s quote, Cato the Younger’s words share what he thought about self-restraint in what you say and put out into the world.
Related: Quote of the Day: Stoic Philosopher Epictetus on Embracing the Unknown and Letting Go of Control
Quote of the Day by Cato the Younger
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This quote comes from The Life of Cato the Younger by Plutarch, from his Parallel Lives series. This particular version was translated by Bernadotte Perrin. According to Britannica, Plutarch was a Greek biographer and author who wrote this series of 48 biographies on famous men in Greek and published in the early 2nd century CE. Unfortunately, not all of these survived the test of time, but according to the University of Chicago, 18 pairs of biographies were saved.
Plutarch also wrote that Cato spoke to groups of people with an almost militant fervor; however, he didn’t outwardly speak or “perform his exercises” in front of others often. So much so that he writes a friend of Cato’s told him that "Men find fault with thee, Cato, for thy silence.” And this is where our quote of the day comes in; Cato replied:
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When he was told by a companion that other men “find fault” in how little he says out loud—at least regarding their perception of how much one should speak—his response was to share that he’s very selective and thoughtful about what he does say. And this is because some things are just better left unsaid.
We’ve all been there: we’re in a heated fight or argument with our partner. We’re experiencing very tense and passionate emotions, and so many negative thoughts are racing through our minds. Do you say everything you’re thinking? Of course not. I’d venture a guess that a majority of those thoughts aren’t how you actually feel about that person. But heightened emotions can really get the best of you, and if you speak before you think, you might say something hurtful or foolish. That’s why it’s very common to advise people to “count to 10” or take a breather and walk away from conflict to come back with a clearer head to filter out negative sentiments.
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More Quotes from Cato the Younger
“Bear in mind, that if through toil you accomplish a good deed, that toil will quickly pass from you, the good deed will not leave you so long as you live; but if through pleasure you do anything dishonourable, the pleasure will quickly pass away, that dishonourable act will remain with you for ever.”“Nay, men, if any of you had heeded what I was ever foretelling and advising, ye would now neither be fearing a single man nor putting your hopes in a single man.”“In doing nothing men learn to do evil.”“Consider it the greatest of all virtues to restrain the tongue.” “Consider in silence whatever any one says: speech both conceals and reveals the inner soul of man.”Related: Quote of the Day: Albert Einstein's Famous Words on the Power of Imagination Still Inspire Today
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