Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 2.23 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.23
But, of all motives, none is better adapted to secure influence and hold it fast than love; nothing is more foreign to that end than fear. For Ennius says admirably: "Whom they fear they hate. And whom one hates, one hopes to see him dead." And we recently discovered, if it was not known before, that no amount of power can withstand the hatred of the many. The death of this tyrant, whose yoke the state endured under the constraint of armed force and whom it still obeys more humbly than ever, though he is dead, illustrates the deadly effects of popular hatred; and the same lesson is taught by the similar fate of all other despots, of whom practically no one has ever escaped such a death. For fear is but a poor safeguard of lasting power; while affection, on the other hand, may be trusted to keep it safe for ever.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.23, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/2.23
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 notesNothing secures lasting influence like being loved, and nothing undermines it like being feared, since people hate those they fear and hope to see them fall. No amount of power withstands the hatred of the many, so power built on fear is fragile while affection keeps it safe.
Older wording
- “yoke”
- — a harness, a symbol of oppressive control
- “despots”
- — absolute rulers
Themes and situations
- Leadership and power
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Community and our duty to others
- Leading others
- A difficult boss
- Conflict at work
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