Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.85 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.85
What stains do you think he had upon his conscience, what scars upon his heart? But whose life can be advantageous to himself, if that life is his on the condition that the man who takes it shall be held in undying gratitude and glory? But if these things which seem so very advantageous are not advantageous because they are full of shame and moral wrong, we ought to be quite convinced that nothing can be expedient that is not morally right.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.85, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.85
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 notesA tyrant's life carries stains on the conscience and scars on the heart, and it is hardly an advantage to live on condition that whoever ends your life will be honoured for it. Since things that seem hugely advantageous are full of shame and wrong, nothing can be useful unless it is also right.
Older wording
- “expedient”
- — useful or advantageous
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Fear and anxiety
- Ambition and success
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