Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.15 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.15
On the other hand, when some act is performed in which we see "mean" duties manifested, that is generally regarded as fully perfect, for the reason that the common crowd does not, as a rule, comprehend how far it falls short of real perfection; but, as far as their comprehension does go, they think there is no deficiency. This same thing ordinarily occurs in the estimation of poems, paintings, and a great many other works of art: ordinary people enjoy and praise things that do not deserve praise. The reason for this, I suppose, is that those productions have some point of excellence which catches the fancy of the uneducated, because these have not the ability to discover the points of weakness in any particular piece of work before them. And so, when they are instructed by experts, they readily abandon their former opinion. The performance of the duties, then, which I am discussing in these books, is called by the Stoics a sort of second-grade moral goodness, not the peculiar property of their wise men, but shared by them with all mankind.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.15, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.15
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 notesOrdinary people tend to mistake everyday decent behaviour for perfection, much as the untrained admire flawed art whose weaknesses they cannot spot, until experts show them otherwise. The Stoics call this common decency a second-grade goodness, shared by everyone and distinct from the wise person's perfection.
Older wording
- “second-grade moral goodness”
- — a lower, everyday level of virtue short of perfect wisdom
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Judgements and impressions
- Learning and progress
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.