Cicero
Roman statesman, orator and philosopher (106 to 43 BCE); consul in 63 BCE; author of On Duties.
Cicero did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Their wordsFor no phase of life, whether public or private, whether in business or in the home, whether one is working on what concerns oneself alone or dealing with another, can be without its moral duty; on the discharge of such duties depends all that is morally right, and on their neglect all that is morally wrong in life.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 1st of 7 in this piece
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Our reading
Good faith, meaning truth and keeping promises and agreements, is the foundation of justice
Their wordsThe foundation of justice, moreover, is good faith—that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 2nd of 7 in this piece
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Our reading
Disputes should be settled by discussion, resorting to force only when discussion is impossible
Their wordsFor since there are two ways of settling a dispute: first, by discussion; second, by physical force; and since the former is characteristic of man, the latter of the brute, we must resort to force only in case we may not avail ourselves of discussion.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 3rd of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsWhile wrong may be done, then, in either of two ways, that is, by force or by fraud, both are bestial: fraud seems to belong to the cunning fox, force to the lion; both are wholly unworthy of man, but fraud is the more contemptible.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 4th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsFor fear is but a poor safeguard of lasting power; while affection, on the other hand, may be trusted to keep it safe for ever.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 5th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsFor if anyone thinks that he can win lasting glory by pretence, by empty show, by hypocritical talk and looks, he is very much mistaken.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 6th of 7 in this piece
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Their wordsFor nothing can be expedient which is not at the same time morally right; neither can a thing be morally right just because it is expedient, but it is expedient because it is morally right.
↗De Officiis (tr. Walter Miller, 1913)gutenberg.org 7th of 7 in this piece
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