Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.31 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.31
But occasions often arise, when those duties which seem most becoming to the just man and to the "good man," as we call him, undergo a change and take on a contrary aspect. It may, for example, not be a duty to restore a trust or to fulfil a promise, and it may become right and proper sometimes to evade and not to observe what truth and honour would usually demand. For we may well be guided by those fundamental principles of justice which I laid down at the outset: first, that no harm be done to anyone; second, that the common interests be conserved. When these are modified under changed circumstances, moral duty also undergoes a change, and it does not always remain the same.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.31, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.31
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 notesDuties are not rigid: a promise or a deposit need not be honoured when keeping it would cause harm or defeat the common good. The guiding principles stay constant, to harm no one and protect the shared interest, but what they require shifts as circumstances change.
Older wording
- “restore a trust”
- — return something left in your keeping
Themes and situations
- Duty and roles
- Justice and fairness
- Judgements and impressions
- Virtue and character
- An ethical dilemma
- A hard decision
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