Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.25 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.25
Again, men seek riches partly to supply the needs of life, partly to secure the enjoyment of pleasure. With those who cherish higher ambitions, the desire for wealth is entertained with a view to power and influence and the means of bestowing favours; Marcus Crassus, for example, not long since declared that no amount of wealth was enough for the man who aspired to be the foremost citizen of the state, unless with the income from it he could maintain an army. Fine establishments and the comforts of life in elegance and abundance also afford pleasure, and the desire to secure it gives rise to the insatiable thirst for wealth. Still, I do not mean to find fault with the accumulation of property, provided it hurts nobody, but unjust acquisition of it is always to be avoided.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.25, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.25
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 notesPeople want money for necessities, for pleasure, or for power and the ability to give favours, and a love of comfort and elegance feeds an endless thirst for more. Building wealth is not wrong as long as it hurts nobody, but unjust gain must always be avoided.
Older wording
- “insatiable”
- — never satisfied
Themes and situations
- Wealth and poverty
- Desire and craving
- Ambition and success
- Justice and fairness
- Simplicity and frugality
- Money, status and wanting more
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