Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 2.6 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.6
For if we are looking for mental enjoyment and relaxation, what pleasure can be compared with the pursuits of those who are always studying out something that will tend toward and effectively promote a good and happy life? Or, if regard is had for strength of character and virtue, then this is the method by which we can attain to those qualities, or there is none at all. And to say that there is no "method" for securing the highest blessings, when none even of the least important concerns is without its method, is the language of people who talk without due reflection and who blunder in matters of the utmost importance. Furthermore, if there is really a way to learn virtue, where shall one look for it, when one has turned aside from this field of learning? Now, when I am advocating the study of philosophy, I usually discuss this subject at greater length, as I have done in another of my books. For the present I meant only to explain why, deprived of the tasks of public service, I have devoted myself to this particular pursuit.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.6, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/2.6
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 notesPhilosophy offers the best kind of mental enjoyment and is the only real route to strength of character: if there is a way to learn virtue, this is where it lies. Claiming there is no method for the highest goods, when even trivial things have methods, is careless thinking.
Older wording
- “advocating”
- — arguing in favour of
Themes and situations
- Learning and progress
- Virtue and character
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