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5. You see here, Marcus, my son, the very form
and as it were the face of Moral Goodness; “and if,”
as Plato says, “it could be seen with the physical eye,
it would awaken a marvellous love of wisdom.” But
all that is morally right rises from some one of
four sources: it is concerned either (1) with the1
full perception and intelligent development of the
true; or (2) with the conservation of organized
society, with rendering to every man his due, and
with the faithful discharge of obligations assumed;
or (3) with the greatness and strength of a noble
and invincible spirit; or (4) with the orderliness
and moderation of everything that is said and done,
wherein consist temperance and self-control.
Although these four are connected and interwoven, 2 still it is in each one considered singly that
certain definite kinds of moral duties have their
origin: in that category, for instance, which was
designated first in our division and in which we
place wisdom and prudence, belong the search after
truth and its discovery; and this is the peculiar
province of that virtue.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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