Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.120 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.120
We have, then, fully discussed the problem how a question is to be decided, if ever that which seems to be expediency clashes with moral rectitude. But if, on the other hand, the assertion is made that pleasure admits of a show of expediency also, there can still be no possible union between it and moral rectitude. For, to make the most generous admission we can in favour of pleasure, we will grant that it may contribute something that possibly gives some spice to life, but certainly nothing that is really expedient.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.120, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.120
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 notesThis closes the question of what to do when apparent advantage clashes with doing right. Even if pleasure is granted some value, it can only add a little spice to life and nothing of real, lasting benefit.
Older wording
- “expediency”
- — what is convenient or advantageous
- “moral rectitude”
- — doing what is morally right
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Pleasure and pain
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