The incident illustrates an attractive aspect of Cicero’s personality: his predisposition to admire. He was not a cynic and, although he was much concerned with his own glory and had a fair share of hatreds and dislikes, he was appreciative of the achievements of others and liked to praise them if he could.
From Anthony Everitt’s Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician (Kindle Locations 822-825), in reference to Cicero’s praise of Crassus (whose last speech and death Cicero witnessed as a young boy).
