Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
Tusculan Disputations 1 ¶66–67 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
From “On the Contempt of Death”
Translation by C. D. Yonge (1853)
Cicero (on the Stoics), Tusculan Disputations 1 ¶66–67
M. I will comply with your wishes, and explain as well as I can what you require; but not with any idea that, like the Pythian Apollo, what I say must needs be certain and indisputable, but as a mere man, endeavoring to arrive at probabilities by conjecture, for I have no ground to proceed further on than probability. Those men may call their statements indisputable who assert that what they say can be perceived by the senses, and who proclaim themselves philosophers by profession. A. Do as you please: We are ready to hear you.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), Tusculan Disputations 1 ¶66–67, tr. C. D. Yonge (1853)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/tusculan-disputations/1.66
Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, tr. C. D. Yonge (1853). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesBefore giving his argument, the speaker admits he can only offer reasonable probabilities rather than certainty, unlike philosophers who claim their conclusions are beyond dispute. It models intellectual humility when thinking about the biggest questions.
Older wording
- “Pythian Apollo”
- — the god at Delphi whose oracle was treated as infallible
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Learning and progress
- Pride and humility
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