Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 2.88 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.88
But it is often necessary to weigh one expediency against another;—for this, as I stated, is a fourth point overlooked by Panaetius. For not only are physical advantages regularly compared with outward advantages [and outward, with physical], but physical advantages are compared with one another, and outward with outward. Physical advantages are compared with outward advantages in some such way as this: one may ask whether it is more desirable to have health than wealth; [external advantages with physical, thus: whether it is better to have wealth than extraordinary bodily strength;] while the physical advantages may be weighed against one another, so that good health is preferred to sensual pleasure, strength to agility. Outward advantages also may be weighed against one another: glory, for example, may be preferred to riches, an income derived from city property to one derived from the farm.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.88, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/2.88
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 notesReal choices often mean ranking one advantage against another: health against wealth, health against pleasure, glory against riches. Good judgement means knowing which goods to prefer when they compete.
Older wording
- “expediency”
- — something useful or advantageous
- “outward advantages”
- — external goods such as wealth and fame
Themes and situations
- Wealth and poverty
- Illness and the body
- Reputation and others' opinions
- A hard decision
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