Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.161 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.161
From this brief discussion, then, it can be understood that people are often in doubt not only whether an action is morally right or wrong, but also, when a choice is offered between two moral actions, which one is morally better. This point, as I remarked above, has been overlooked by Panaetius. But let us now pass on to what remains.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.161, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.161
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 short closing remark on book one: the harder ethical cases are often not right versus wrong but a choice between two good actions, a problem the earlier thinker Panaetius left unexamined, before the discussion moves on.
Themes and situations
- Duty and roles
- Virtue and character
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