Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.119 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.119
There is one class of people that is very rarely met with: it is composed of those who are endowed with marked natural ability, or exceptional advantages of education and culture, or both, and who also have time to consider carefully what career in life they prefer to follow; and in this deliberation the decision must turn wholly upon each individual's natural bent. For we try to find out from each one's native disposition, as was said above, just what is proper for him; and this we require not only in case of each individual act but also in ordering the whole course of one's life; and this last is a matter to which still greater care must be given, in order that we may be true to ourselves throughout all our lives and not falter in the discharge of any duty.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.119, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.119
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 notesA few people have both strong natural talent and the education and leisure to think carefully about their career; for them the choice should rest on their natural inclination. Fit your whole way of life, not just single acts, to your own nature so you can stay true to yourself and not falter in your duties.
Older wording
- “bent”
- — natural inclination
- “native disposition”
- — natural temperament
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
- Duty and roles
- Virtue and character
- A hard decision
- Searching for meaning
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