On Duties Passage 59

Sed in his omnibus officiis tribuendis videndum erit, quid cuique maxime necesse sit, et quid quisque vel sine nobis aut possit consequi aut non possit. Ita non iidem erunt necessitudinum gradus, qui temporum; suntque officia, quae aliis magis quam aliis debeantur; ut vicinum citius adiuveris in fructibus percipiendis quam aut fratrem aut familiarem, at, si lis in iudicio sit, propinquum potius et amicum quam vicinum defenderis. Haec igitur et talia circumspicienda sunt in omni officio et consuetudo exercitatioque capienda , ut boni ratiocinatores officiorum esse possimus et addendo deducendoque videre, quae reliqui summa fiat, ex quo, quantum cuique debeatur, intellegas.

In assigning all these duties, we shall have to consider what each person most needs and what he can or cannot obtain without us. Thus the degrees imposed by circumstances will not be the same as those of relationship, and some duties are owed more to certain people than to others. You would sooner help a neighbor gather his crops than a brother or intimate friend, but if a lawsuit were in court, you would defend a relative and friend rather than a neighbor. These and similar considerations must therefore be surveyed in every duty, and we must acquire practice and experience so that we may become good calculators of duties and, by adding and subtracting, see what balance remains and thereby understand how much is owed to each person.

Dans l’attribution de tous ces devoirs, il faudra examiner ce dont chacun a le plus besoin et ce que chacun peut ou ne peut pas obtenir sans nous. Ainsi, les degrés déterminés par les circonstances ne seront pas les mêmes que ceux de la parenté. Certains devoirs sont dus davantage aux uns qu’aux autres. On aidera plus vite un voisin qu’un frère ou un familier à récolter ses fruits; mais, s’il s’agit d’un procès, on défendra un proche ou un ami plutôt qu’un voisin. Ces considérations et leurs semblables doivent donc être examinées dans chaque devoir. Il faut acquérir l’habitude et l’exercice qui nous permettront d’être de bons calculateurs des devoirs et de voir, en ajoutant et en retranchant, quel solde demeure, afin de comprendre ce que nous devons à chacun.