Quotes from book
De Divinatione

De Divinatione is a philosophical treatise in two books written in 44 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero. It takes the form of a dialogue whose interlocutors are Marcus and his brother Quintus. Book I deals with Quintus' apology of divination , while Book II contains Marcus' refutation of these from his Academic philosophical standpoint. Cicero concerns himself in some detail with the types of divination, dividing them into the "inspired" type , especially dreams, and the type which occurs via some form of skill of interpretation .


Marcus Tullius Cicero photo

“There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.”
Nihil tam absurde dici potest, quod non dicatur ab aliquo philosophorum.

Marcus Tullius Cicero book De Divinatione

Book II, chapter LVIII, section 119
Cf. René Descartes' "On ne sauroit rien imaginer de si étranger et si peu croyable, qu’il n’ait été dit par quelqu’un des philosophes [One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another]" (Le Discours de la Méthode, Pt. 2)
Variant: There is nothing so ridiculous that some philosopher has not said it.
Source: De Divinatione – On Divination (44 BC)

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