If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.

The saying expresses a Ciceronian ideal of frankness and moral consistency: one’s public speech should not be divorced from one’s private convictions. If an idea is respectable enough to be entertained inwardly, it should be defensible enough to be stated openly—otherwise the thinker should question the idea’s propriety or courage. In Roman rhetorical culture, where oratory was tied to civic virtue, the maxim also implies an ethical duty to speak plainly in public life rather than hide behind euphemism or silence. It can be read as both a call to honest discourse and a warning against harboring thoughts one would be ashamed to own.