Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.107 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.107
We must realize also that we are invested by Nature with two characters, as it were: one of these is universal, arising from the fact of our being all alike endowed with reason and with that superiority which lifts us above the brute. From this all morality and propriety are derived, and upon it depends the rational method of ascertaining our duty. The other character is the one that is assigned to individuals in particular. In the matter of physical endowment there are great differences; some, we see, excel in speed for the race, others in strength for wrestling; so in point of personal appearance, some have stateliness, others comeliness. Diversities of character are greater still.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.107, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.107
Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis), tr. Walter Miller (Loeb, 1913). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEach person has two characters: the universal one shared by all humans, based on reason, from which morality and duty derive, and an individual one shaped by personal talents and temperament. People differ widely in body and, even more, in character.
Older wording
- “brute”
- — an animal
- “comeliness”
- — attractiveness
- “stateliness”
- — dignified bearing
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
- Virtue and character
- Duty and roles
- Searching for meaning
- A hard decision
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