Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.96 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.96
The classification of propriety, moreover, is twofold: (1) we assume a general sort of propriety, which is found in moral goodness as a whole; then (2) there is another propriety, subordinate to this, which belongs to the several divisions of moral goodness. The former is usually defined somewhat as follows: "Propriety is that which harmonizes with man's superiority in those respects in which his nature differs from that of the rest of the animal creation." And they so define the special type of propriety which is subordinate to the general notion, that they represent it to be that propriety which harmonizes with Nature, in the sense that it manifestly embraces temperance and self-control, together with a certain deportment such as becomes a gentleman.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.96, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.96
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 notesDefines propriety in two ways: a general kind found in all moral goodness, and a narrower kind belonging to each particular virtue, both tied to what suits human nature as distinct from the animals, including temperance, self-control and good deportment.
Older wording
- “deportment”
- — the way a person carries and conducts themselves
- “propriety”
- — proper, fitting behaviour
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Nature and the cosmos
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