Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.41 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.41
With this I will close my discussion of the duties connected with war. But let us remember that we must have regard for justice even towards the humblest. Now the humblest station and the poorest fortune are those of slaves; and they give us no bad rule who bid us treat our slaves as we should our employees: they must be required to work; they must be given their dues. While wrong may be done, then, in either of two ways, that is, by force or by fraud, both are bestial: fraud seems to belong to the cunning fox, force to the lion; both are wholly unworthy of man, but fraud is the more contemptible. But of all forms of injustice, none is more flagrant than that of the hypocrite who, at the very moment when he is most false, makes it his business to appear virtuous. This must conclude our discussion of justice.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.41, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.41
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 notesJustice must extend even to the lowliest people, so subordinates should be made to work but also given what they are owed. Harm done by force or by fraud is bestial, and fraud is the more contemptible; worst of all is the hypocrite who acts virtuous while being most false.
Older wording
- “flagrant”
- — glaringly obvious
- “bestial”
- — like a beast
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Virtue and character
- Duty and roles
- Leading others
- An ethical dilemma
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