Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.31 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.31
And therefore Nature's law itself, which protects and conserves human interests, will surely determine that a man who is wise, good, and brave, should in emergency have the necessaries of life transferred to him from a person who is idle and worthless; for the good man's death would be a heavy loss to the common weal; only let him beware that self-esteem and self-love do not find in such a transfer of possessions a pretext for wrong-doing. But, thus guided in his decision, the good man will always perform his duty, promoting the general interests of human society on which I am so fond of dwelling.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.31, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.31
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 notesIn an extreme emergency, a good and capable person whose survival matters to the community might be justified in taking necessities from a worthless idler, but must guard against self-love dressing up plain wrongdoing as necessity. The guiding aim is always the common good.
Older wording
- “common weal”
- — the common good or public welfare
- “necessaries of life”
- — the basic things needed to stay alive
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Virtue and character
- Community and our duty to others
- An ethical dilemma
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.