كان كاتو يقول إنه لم يندم في حياته كلها إلا على ثلاثة أشياء: الأولى أنه أئتمن امرأةً على سرّ، والثانية أنه سافر بحراً حين كان بإمكانه أن يسافر براً، والثالثة أنه مرّ عليه يومٌ واحد دون أن تكون لديه وصيّة مُعدّة.

“He (Cato) used to say that in all his life he never repented but of three things. The first was that he had trusted a woman with a secret; the second that he had gone by sea when he might have gone by land; and the third, that had passed one day without having a will by him.”Plutarch — Lives, Translated from the Original Greek: With Notes, Historical and Critical; and a Life of Plutarch (1844)