Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.4 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.4
And yet, in my judgment, Africanus earned the higher praise. For no literary monuments of his genius have been published, we have no work produced in his leisure hours, no product of his solitude. From this fact we may safely infer that, because of the activity of his mind and the study of those problems to which he used to direct his thought, he was never unoccupied, never lonely. But I have not strength of mind enough by means of silent meditation to forget my solitude; and so I have turned all my attention and endeavour to this kind of literary work. I have, accordingly, written more in this short time since the downfall of the republic than I did in the course of many years, while the republic stood.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.4, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.4
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 notesCicero admits that he lacks the mental self-sufficiency to simply be content alone with his thoughts, so he copes with his isolation and loss by throwing himself into writing. He produces more in a short span of upheaval than in many earlier years, showing how absorbing work can turn a setback into something useful.
Older wording
- “literary monuments”
- — lasting written works
Themes and situations
- Solitude and retreat
- Resilience and endurance
- Learning and progress
- Loneliness
- A career setback
- Searching for meaning
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