Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.148 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.148
But no rules need to be given about what is done in accordance with the established customs and conventions of a community; for these are in themselves rules; and no one ought to make the mistake of supposing that, because Socrates or Aristippus did or said something contrary to the manners and established customs of their city, he has a right to do the same; it was only by reason of their great and superhuman virtues that those famous men acquired this special privilege. But the Cynics' whole system of philosophy must be rejected, for it is inimical to moral sensibility, and without moral sensibility nothing can be upright, nothing morally good.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.148, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.148
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 notesOrdinary social customs are their own guide and need no extra rules. Do not assume you may break convention just because exceptional figures like Socrates did, since they earned that licence by extraordinary virtue. A philosophy that despises moral sensitivity must be rejected.
Older wording
- “Cynics”
- — ancient philosophers who rejected social conventions
- “inimical”
- — hostile or harmful to
Themes and situations
- Duty and roles
- Virtue and character
- Community and our duty to others
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