This seemingly self-published book of wise quotations (all of which, I think, are in the public domain) is not intended – in my opinion – to be read cover-to-cover like most of the other books which I am lucky enough to get, free of charge, from Netgalley.

I read it the way I believe it will often be read, meaning, I put it down and picked it up, often “opening” the electronic book to a random place or subject, to see if it would tell me something wise, or, failing that, entertaining. I’m pretty sure that I read all the quotes at least once at some time, but it’s possible that I missed a few.

The title references social media, the first chapter is largely about social media, and the third chapter is called “on Surviving Adolescence”. From this, I am guessing that the editor’s intent is that this book might be of use to a thoughtful teenager in these difficult times. Even though I have a few quibbles with this book, I feel that, if you bought this book for a thoughtful teenager, you’d be doing them a real service. Non-teenagers might learn something, as well.

I think that even the editor would agree that this book, while a collection of some of the world’s wisdom, it is not a collection of all the world’s wisdom.

This book, specifically, includes a great many quotes that might appeal to people who, here in the USA, describe themselves as “conservative” or perhaps “libertarian”, but very few that might appeal to the alleged principles of self-described “liberals”. Perhaps the editor believes that there is nothing in the modern-day pantheon of liberal thought that deserves repeating. It could be true – but truly wise people will decide for themselves.

It is, of course, the editor’s prerogative to include or exclude thinkers and thoughts which he believes are not helpful and/or profound. However, I feel that if you wanted to do thoughtful teenagers (and non-) a real service, you might include some quotations and ideas you don’t particularly agree with. But the editor of this book didn’t do this.

This doesn’t mean you have to include all opinions. There may be opinions, however, that might cause you, the editor, to say, “I don’t agree with this, but a person of good will could think [insert opinion you disagree with here].” Your reader might benefit from the opportunity to see differing opinions set against each other. Your reader might develop a fuller understanding by reading opposing opinions, and develop more effective counter-arguments. I feel that this book lacks opinions that differ from certain political orthodoxies.

I don’t like to criticize without giving an example, so here is an example:

At location 1328 of my Kindle edition, the editor includes an opinion by Ralph Waldo Emerson which reads, in part: “... do not tell me, as a good man did today, of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee, thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong.” The quote continues, but I think that you, the reader, will get the idea that Emerson is saying that helping the poor is a waste of time and money.

The comfortable man hectoring others to establish lazy people in undeserved comfort is a straw-man. It makes the following false statement: because a foolish man said today that I had an obligation to pull all poor men in good situations, I am against giving any money to any poor person or any organization helping the poor. The existence of people (both in Emerson’s time and our own) who will, from a position of comfort, talk of an “obligation to put all poor men in good situations” does not mean that helping the poor is always a waste of time.

Obviously, more important than my opinion is the opinion of the many more profound thinkers over hundreds of years that helping the poor is not only not a waste of time but is actually an essential part of a well-lived life. The most obvious choice – especially if you wish your quotations to be available free of charge in the public domain – are the many statements to this effect by Jesus Christ. But there are other wise people who have held a similar opinion.

The editor mostly refrains from commenting on the quotations he has chosen, which I think is an excellent decision. However, the editor inserts a comment in the single quotation from Jesus in this volume (location 833). The editor, in his note, interprets the single quotation from Jesus “in the context of business leadership”. Given that Jesus spent a lot of time explicitly endorsing giving charity to the poor, and really didn’t seem to care at all about business leadership as we understand it, I found this quotation, and its comment, somewhat misleading about what Jesus was about. To be fair, however, people who might read this book will already have a solid idea of what Jesus is about from other sources, so perhaps it’s not necessary to review them in this book.

There are quotations in this book that, in effect, say abortion is wrong, but no quotations or footnotes about the responsibility of society to take care of the unwanted children of others once they have left their mothers’ wombs.

There are quotations in this book that say the possession of firearms by civilians is a good thing, but no quotations or footnotes concerning the necessity of storing legally-owned firearms securely and of keeping firearms away from people who are irresponsible and/or mentally ill.

In spite of the objections above, I am glad that I got an opportunity to read this book. I believe the editor is a person of good will who wishes to put a lot of good common sense into a format where it might reach those who have never heard of Cicero before. I disagreed with some of the things I read in this book, but reading opinions that I disagreed with hasn’t killed me yet.

This collection of “Pearls for Pigs” is the obnoxious stocking stuffer for your favorite social media addict. Unfortunately, in its current form, it might just be an annoying present that will not bring any value to the recipient, who will obviously not read it. I'd re-edit it using pictures from famous influencers as illustrations of the selected passages. It also needs better cover art.

I always liked books like this because it allows me to see what those in the past thought about everything, and in this book it is no different. I'm always amazed at how people in 2022 always think we are different from those from the past. We think we are smarter and more open minded, but books like," Cicero on Social Media," will prove them wrong because the issue we talk about taxes, politics, youth, religion etc. have all been said before and not just in the last decades but centuries ago. It's like they say, if you don't learn from the past, it repeats itself. And when you read this inspiring book you will be amazed at how similar are problems are with those people from the past and maybe it will make you wiser to know that and maybe its not the problems that need to change but how we approach the problems that need to change.
This is a terrific book., it will take time but well worth it.

I want to thank Micheal May and NetGalley for an advance copy of this inspirational book.

This is a great little book of quotes from philosophers from the Ancient and Middle Ages that can be applied to problems we have in the modem world. This is one of those books one should carry around and read if there are any spare moments in the day.

This book is a collection of thoughts from some of the greatest thinkers of the past. In the preface to this book the Editor reminds us that although a lot has changed over the years with technology and circumstance, humanity itself has changed little. We can learn from the past. Some of the topics covered are social media, friendship, exercise and the importance of being healthy, leadership, family, and faith, among others.
I enjoyed this book. I found that it wasn’t one I wanted to read all at once, it’s best taken in small bites, even skipping around to the different topics. I found there were some texts that I totally agreed with and saw as wisdom, and others that I thought were interesting, but maybe not something I’d want to put into practice. This is a great little book. #CiceroOnSocialMedia #netgalley

This book is a unique collection of quotes & sparkles of wisdom. I found it informative. It is a short-read. I read it within a couple of hours.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author & publisher for this advance copy.

I was expecting something quite different, something along the lines of new interpretations on Cicero's texts, maybe in a humoristic manner, but going to the sources nonetheless. Maybe I was expecting social media content if Cicero would have used it.

What the books is comprised of is a selection of quotes on different topics. They reiterate the importance of the classics and how they can apply across time and space. Nice idea, but I feel like the title was too different from the actual content and it set very different expectations.

Just a word of thanks to both Mike May, editor of Cicero on Social Media, as well as netgalley.com for an advanced reading copy of this e-read in exchange for my honest opinion of the e-read.

Cicero on Social Media is not a novel, but as editor Mike May states - it is "What great thinkers of the past say about the problems of the present". The book is essentially a nice reference manual for what past authors, philosophers, and others would state in a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph regarding a wide range of topics that are of some importance in today's world.

Topics include items such as Social Media and Friendship; Fitness, Diet and Habit; Family, Marriage, and Parenting; Politics, Politicians, and Policy. Full of interesting pieces of advice from those from the past - Shakespeare, Cicero, and Homer, to name a few - this book is a nice resource for any student (specifically in English or history class) writing a report or prepping for a speech dealing with issues facing the world today. I would definitely suggest this as a resource for the classroom or school library in middle school, high school, and even at the university level.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot and I saved some of the quotes. However, I am something for it to be a 5 star book. Overall it was an easy and quick read, but some quotes had to be there twice to fully understand them because of the language.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an early copy of Cicero on Social Media

Mike May has put together a series of quotes on differing subjects that attempts to bring thinkers of the past in line with contemporary subjects that may not be so contemporary after all.

This reference book is not about Cicero or about social media. Rather Cicero' words are the opening salvo which then moves on to well-known thinkers from Marcus Aurelius to William Shakespeare to Adam Smith.

There is no interaction or continuing thread when confronted with these quotes. A reader could consider this compilation a "quote of the day" kind of reading.

There is a difficulty in using some of these quotes. For example, Shakespeare is quoted several times, but there is no specific reference to where this writing can be found. Do I search through his 37 plays? Is this King Lear speaking? Iago?

Cicero on Social Media
By Michael May

Mr. May has produced here a compendium of quotations from the ancients through historical personages right up to John Locke and other more modern thinkers. There are quotes from Shakespeare, from Confucius, from Martin Luther, and John Milton, just to name a few.

I confess to getting a little bogged down in some of the lengthier quotes, but there were also some real gems such as:

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
- Blaise Pascal

The book is worth a perusal. It will give you some universal ideas to contemplate.

I received a free ARC from the publisher for my honest review.

This is an interesting take on the idea that there is "nothing new under the sun." The book is divided into topic areas with several quotes from well-known historic figures demonstrating that though human kind has progressed with regard to technology and knowledge, human nature remains unchanged. An interesting take on society's "new" challenges.

I honestly thought that there was gonna be some kind of famous person role play, and the gimmick would be seeing social media posts based on quotes from various historical figures. Alas, that was not the case and I was slightly disappointed by that. Instead, this is a book filled with quotes from historical figures that definitely go over the 280 character limit about different topics, such as friends, health, and marriage.
This wasn't a bad book, it just didn't meet my expectations. Check it out if you're interested or a bit bored.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting with this book... but it wasn't what I got. I was intrigued by the title and (what I thought was) the topic. It wasn't really about social media and it was just quotes by many famous people. I love quotes. For this reason, I liked reading through the book. I was hoping for something more aimed at social media. You can find these quotes on any number of websites dedicated to quotes based upon certain topics.

Interesting book? Yes, for me.

Would I recommend it to others? Probably not.

Three stars because I like quotes, but I am afraid that most will be disappointed.

This book wasn't quite what I was expecting. I was thinking it would be a book that built on quotes from Cicero and other important authors to explain how different philosophies and individuals would react to modern culture, but this was more a collection of different quotes. Quotes can be greatly educational, but it felt like there should be a bit more structure around them to pull them all together.

This is supposed to be a book with Cicero quotes as if it was social media. Not only did this not have the social media aspect to it, it also barely had Cicero in it. Just a whole bunch of quotes that belong to people who are not Cicero, albeit they are great quotes that come off as Ciceroesque but that's not what I came to this book for.

I love the cover of this book, but not as much as I found the content relatable and with snippets of insights into life, friendship, decision making, and in essence society- this was quite the philosophical gem, presented in brief paragraphs making it easier to read.
Thank you for the eARC.