Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.55 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.55
for it means much to share in common the same family traditions, the same forms of domestic worship, and the same ancestral tombs. But of all the bonds of fellowship, there is none more noble, none more powerful than when good men of congenial character are joined in intimate friendship; for really, if we discover in another that moral goodness on which I dwell so much, it attracts us and makes us friends to the one in whose character it seems to dwell.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.55, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.55
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 notesShared family traditions bind people, but the noblest bond of all is friendship between good people of similar character, because the goodness we see in someone draws us to them. Seek friends by their moral quality.
Older wording
- “congenial”
- — of compatible temperament
- “domestic worship”
- — household religious rites
Themes and situations
- Friendship
- Virtue and character
- Family and love
- Loneliness
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.