Cicero

I received this quote from my Grandpa today with the email subject line "what have we learned in 2000 years"

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC

How applicable to our times today.... so applicable that I thought I should post it, but before I did, I checked it out online. According to TruthorFiction.Com the actual quote is:

"The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign hands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall."

Allegedly, the quote is also debunked on Snopes.com, however I was not able to find it myself. (but someone did post the it in their blog, here)

Still, I think it is very applicable to the United States, and some good food for thought on our domestic and foreign policies.

hmmmm these are troubling times... yes they are.