Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.20 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.20
Of the three remaining divisions, the most extensive in its application is the principle by which society and what we may call its "common bonds" are maintained. Of this again there are two divisions—justice, in which is the crowning glory of the virtues and on the basis of which men are called "good men"; and, close akin to justice, charity, which may also be called kindness or generosity. The first office of justice is to keep one man from doing harm to another, unless provoked by wrong; and the next is to lead men to use common possessions for the common interests, private property for their own.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.20, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.20
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 notesThe bonds that hold society together split into justice and generosity. The first job of justice is not to harm anyone unless provoked, and the second is to treat shared things as shared and private things as private.
Older wording
- “charity”
- — generosity and goodwill toward others
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Community and our duty to others
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.