5 quotations linked to De Officiis by or associated with Cicero, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Justice, good faith, promises, public confidence, practical wisdom, reputation, duty and social obligation.
Use these links when you want to inspect the wording in its wider work or edition.
“Good-will is won principally through kind services.”
Trust and affection are more likely to grow from useful conduct toward others than from reputation management alone.
Source note: De Officiis, Book II, section 32; Cicero lists kind services among the strongest ways of earning goodwill.
“No duty is more imperative than that of proving one's gratitude.”
Gratitude is framed as an obligation to recognize and answer benefits already received, not merely as a pleasant feeling toward a benefactor.
Source note: De Officiis, Book I, section 47; Cicero discusses how kindness already received creates a stronger duty of requital.
“For we have confidence in those who we think have more understanding than ourselves”
Cicero treats confidence in another person as partly a judgment about competence: people are more willing to rely on someone they believe can understand difficult circumstances and reach sound decisions.
Source note: De Officiis, Book II, section 33, Project Gutenberg #47001. Cicero’s larger argument says public confidence depends on practical wisdom joined with justice; intelligence alone is not presented as sufficient for trust.
“The foundation of justice, moreover, is good faith—that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.”
Justice depends on reliable commitments because social cooperation becomes unstable when promises and agreements are treated as optional whenever they become inconvenient.
Source note: De Officiis, Book I, section 23; Cicero defines good faith through truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.
“The greatest privilege of wealth is, beyond all peradventure, the opportunity it affords for doing good, without sacrificing one’s fortune.”
Wealth is given ethical value when it creates capacity to help others sustainably rather than serving only accumulation, display, or personal appetite.
Source note: De Officiis, Book II, section 64; Cicero discusses generosity while also warning against careless management of one’s property.