Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.89 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.89
We should take care also that the punishment shall not be out of proportion to the offence, and that some shall not be chastised for the same fault for which others are not even called to account. In administering punishment it is above all necessary to allow no trace of anger. For if anyone proceeds in a passion to inflict punishment, he will never observe that happy mean which lies between excess and defect. This doctrine of the mean is approved by the Peripatetics—and wisely approved, if only they did not speak in praise of anger and tell us that it is a gift bestowed on us by Nature for a good purpose. But, in reality, anger is in every circumstance to be eradicated; and it is to be desired that they who administer the government should be like the laws, which are led to inflict punishment not by wrath but by justice.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.89, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.89
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 notesPunishment should fit the offence, be applied consistently, and above all be free of anger, because someone in a rage never finds the right measure. The author rejects the claim that anger is a useful gift of nature and wants anyone in authority to act like the law, punishing out of justice and not wrath.
Older wording
- “chastised”
- — punished or scolded
- “Peripatetics”
- — followers of Aristotle's school
- “doctrine of the mean”
- — the view that virtue lies between excess and deficiency
Themes and situations
- Anger
- Justice and fairness
- Leadership and power
- Self-discipline and habit
- Being angry with someone
- Leading others
- Parenting
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