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If a man aspires to the highest place, it is no dishonor to him to halt at the second, or even at the third.

— Cicero Orator Ad M. Brutum (-46)

Prima enim sequentem honestum est in secundis tertiisque consistere. (3)

Original text (Latin)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Chapter I, section 4

Variants

If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Cicero (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.