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Cicero
On Duties Passage 13
Passage 263 of 371
Canonical reference 3.13
Latin
perseus-cicero-de_officiis-lat
Etenim quod summum bonum a Stoicis dicitur, convenienter naturae vivere, id habet hanc, ut opinor, sententiam: cum virtute congruere semper, cetera autem, quae secundum naturam essent, ita legere, si ea virtuti non repugnarent. Quod cum ita sit, putant quidam hanc comparationem non recte introductam, nec omnino de eo genere quicquam praecipiendum fuisse. Atque illud quidem honestum, quod proprie vereque dicitur, id in sapientibus est solis neque a virtute divelli umquam potest; in iis autem, in quibus sapientia perfecta non est, ipsum illud quidem perfectum honestum nullo modo, similitudines honesti esse possunt.
English AI-generated translation, non-official
Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
For what the Stoics call the supreme good, living in agreement with nature, has, I think, this meaning: always to conform with virtue, and to select the other things that accord with nature only if they do not conflict with virtue. Since this is so, some think that this comparison was improperly introduced and that no rules at all should have been given for this kind of question. That honorable goodness which is so called properly and truly exists in the wise alone and can never be separated from virtue. But in those whose wisdom is not perfect, perfect moral goodness itself can in no way exist, though likenesses of it can.
French AI-generated translation, non-official
Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
Le souverain bien des Stoïciens, vivre conformément à la nature, signifie, à mon avis, ceci: toujours s'accorder avec la vertu et choisir les autres choses conformes à la nature seulement si elles ne s'opposent pas à la vertu. Puisqu'il en est ainsi, certains pensent que cette comparaison a été introduite à tort et qu'aucun précepte ne devait être donné sur ce genre de question. L'honnête au sens propre et véritable n'existe que chez les sages et ne peut jamais être séparé de la vertu; chez ceux dont la sagesse n'est pas parfaite, l'honnête parfait lui-même ne peut aucunement exister, mais il peut y avoir des ressemblances de l'honnête.
Concepts in this passage
Civic duty
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Moral decorum
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Duty
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Moral rightness and utility
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Life in agreement with nature
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Nature
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Reason
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Wisdom
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