Title page from On Moral Duties (De Officiis)

Part of: Ethical Writings (On Moral Duties, On Old Age, On Friendship, Scipio’s Dream) On Moral Duties (De Officiis)

Part of a collection of Cicero’s writings which includes On Old Age, On Friendship, Officius, and Scipio’s Dream.

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Presidents, Kings, Tyrants, & Despots

… [L]et those who are to preside over the state obey two precepts of Plato, — one, that they so watch for the well-being of their fellow-citizens that they have reference to it in whatever they do, forgetting their own private interests; the other, that they care for the whole body politic, and…

Philosophy

Every one ought to hold fast, not his faults, but his peculiarities, so as to retain more easily the becomingness (propriety) which is the subject of our inquiry. We ought, indeed, to act in such a way as shall be in no respect repugnant to our common human nature; yet, holding this sacred, let us…

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