Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.129 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.129
In these matters we must avoid especially the two extremes: our conduct and speech should not be effeminate and over-nice, on the one hand, nor coarse and boorish, on the other. And we surely must not admit that, while this rule applies to actors and orators, it is not binding upon us. As for stage-people, their custom, because of its traditional discipline, carries modesty to such a point that an actor would never step out upon the stage without a breech-cloth on, for fear he might make an improper exhibition, if by some accident certain parts of his person should happen to become exposed. And in our own custom, grown sons do not bathe with their fathers, nor sons-in-law with their fathers-in-law. We must, therefore, keep to the path of this sort of modesty, especially when Nature is our teacher and guide.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.129, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.129
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 manners and speech, steer between being fussy and affected on one side and coarse on the other. The standards of decorum that actors and public speakers observe apply to everyone, and ordinary customs of modesty reflect what nature teaches.
Older wording
- “boorish”
- — rude and uncultured
- “breech-cloth”
- — a loincloth
Themes and situations
- Self-discipline and habit
- Virtue and character
- Speech and silence
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