Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.16 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.16
Accordingly, such duties appeal to all men who have a natural disposition to virtue. And when the two Decii or the two Scipios are mentioned as "brave men" or Fabricius [or Aristides] is called "the just," it is not at all that the former are quoted as perfect models of courage or the latter as a perfect model of justice, as if we had in one of them the ideal "wise man." For no one of them was wise in the sense in which we wish to have "wise" understood; neither were Marcus Cato and Gaius Laelius wise, though they were so considered and were surnamed "the wise." Not even the famous Seven were "wise." But because of their constant observance of "mean" duties they bore a certain semblance and likeness to wise men.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.16, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.16
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 notesHeroes such as the Decii, the Scipios and Fabricius are called brave or just, but strictly none was a perfect sage, not even the men nicknamed the wise. They earned their reputations by steadily performing ordinary duties, which gave them a likeness of wisdom.
Older wording
- “semblance”
- — outward likeness
- “the famous Seven”
- — the Seven Sages of ancient Greece
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Reputation and others' opinions
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.