Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.14 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.14
And indeed these duties under discussion in these books the Stoics call "mean duties"; they are a common possession and have wide application; and many people attain to the knowledge of them through natural goodness of heart and through advancement in learning. But that duty which those same Stoics call "right" is perfect and absolute and "satisfies all the numbers," as that same school says, and is attainable by none except the wise man.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.14, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.14
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 notesThe Stoics separate everyday duties, which ordinary decent people can know and carry out, from the perfect duty only a fully wise person achieves. The practical guidance here concerns the first kind, within reach of anyone with good instincts and some learning.
Older wording
- “mean duties”
- — ordinary, middle-level duties that decent people can perform
- “satisfies all the numbers”
- — is complete in every respect
Themes and situations
- Duty and roles
- Virtue and character
- Learning and progress
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.