Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.58 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.58
Now, if a contrast and comparison were to be made to find out where most of our moral obligation is due, country would come first, and parents; for their services have laid us under the heaviest obligation; next come children and the whole family, who look to us alone for support and can have no other protection; finally, our kinsmen, with whom we live on good terms and with whom, for the most part, our lot is one. All needful material assistance is, therefore, due first of all to those whom I have named; but intimate relationship of life and living, counsel, conversation, encouragement, comfort, and sometimes even reproof flourish best in friendships. And that friendship is sweetest which is cemented by congeniality of character.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.58, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.58
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 ranking obligations, country comes first, then parents, then children and the household who depend on us, then relatives, and practical material help goes in that order. But close companionship, advice, encouragement, comfort and even honest criticism flourish best between friends, and friendship is sweetest when characters match.
Older wording
- “kinsmen”
- — relatives
- “reproof”
- — gentle criticism
Themes and situations
- Duty and roles
- Family and love
- Friendship
- Community and our duty to others
- A hard decision
- Family conflict
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