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The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.

The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct.

Approximate author period: c. 75 BC · classical

Meaning not yet available

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 75 BC · classical
Approximate author-period evidence for Cicero: life dates -106 to -43. Wikidata Q1541, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1541 (accessed 2026-10-08).
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Contributor-provided quotation collection

Supplied reference C; CSV row 464565; supplied attribution, independently unverified

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Marcus Tullius Cicero: Photograph of a sculptural portrait
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