Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.57 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.57
I think, then, that it was the duty of that grain-dealer not to keep back the facts from the Rhodians, and of this vendor of the house to deal in the same way with his purchaser, The fact is that merely holding one's peace about a thing does not constitute concealment, but concealment consists in trying for your own profit to keep others from finding out something that you know, when it is for their interest to know it. And who fails to discern what manner of concealment that is and what sort of person would be guilty of it? At all events he would be no candid or sincere or straightforward or upright or honest man, but rather one who is shifty, sly, artful, shrewd, underhand, cunning, one grown old in fraud and subtlety. Is it not inexpedient to subject oneself to all these terms of reproach and many more besides?
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.57, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.57
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 notesStaying quiet is not in itself concealment; concealment is deliberately keeping someone from learning what you know when it matters to them, in order to profit. That makes a person shifty and underhand, so the grain dealer and the house seller should both disclose what they know.
Older wording
- “candid”
- — open and honest
- “artful”
- — cunning
- “reproach”
- — blame or criticism
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Virtue and character
- Speech and silence
- An ethical dilemma
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