Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.23 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.23
The foundation of justice, moreover, is good faith—that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements. And therefore we may follow the Stoics, who diligently investigate the etymology of words; and we may accept their statement that "good faith" is so called because what is promised is "made good," although some may find this derivation rather farfetched. There are, on the other hand, two kinds of injustice—the one, on the part of those who inflict wrong, the other on the part of those who, when they can, do not shield from wrong those upon whom it is being inflicted. For he who, under the influence of anger or some other passion, wrongfully assaults another seems, as it were, to be laying violent hands upon a comrade; but he who does not prevent or oppose wrong, if he can, is just as guilty of wrong as if he deserted his parents or his friends or his country.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.23, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.23
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 notesJustice rests on good faith, meaning honesty and keeping your word. There are two kinds of injustice: harming people, and failing to protect those being harmed when you could, which is as bad as abandoning family or friends. Hurting someone in a fit of anger is like attacking a comrade.
Older wording
- “good faith”
- — honesty in keeping your word
- “fidelity”
- — faithfulness and loyalty
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Duty and roles
- Community and our duty to others
- Courage
- An ethical dilemma
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