Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 2.89 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.89
To this class of comparisons belongs that famous saying of old Cato's: when he was asked what was the most profitable feature of an estate, he replied: "Raising cattle successfully." What next to that? "Raising cattle with fair success." And next? "Raising cattle with but slight success." And fourth? "Raising crops." And when his questioner said, "How about money-lending?" Cato replied: "How about murder?" From this as well as from many other incidents we ought to realize that expediencies have often to be weighed against one another and that it is proper for us to add this fourth division in the discussion of moral duty. Let us now pass on to the remaining problems.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.89, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/2.89
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 notesOld Cato ranked ways of making a living and, asked about lending money at interest, answered by comparing it to murder. The wider point is that advantages have to be weighed against each other, and that some ways of profiting are simply wrong.
Older wording
- “expediencies”
- — things that are useful or advantageous
Themes and situations
- Wealth and poverty
- Justice and fairness
- Virtue and character
- An ethical dilemma
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