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From "De Officiis" by Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Marcus Tullius Cicero
The author of the letter and a renowned Roman orator and statesman.
Core Belief
"Moral duty is the foundation of a good life and a successful state. Expediency must always be subordinate to moral rectitude."
Worldview
He sees the world as a place where virtue is constantly under threat from vice and where the pursuit of glory can lead to corruption. He believes that strong moral principles are essential for maintaining a just and stable society.
Personality
Wise, experienced, and deeply concerned with moral rectitude and the welfare of the state. He is also somewhat self-aware, acknowledging his own vanity and the limitations of his philosophical knowledge.
In Their Own Words
"My dear son Marcus, you have now been studying a full year under Cratippus, and that too in Athens, and you should be fully equipped with the practical precepts and the principles of philosophy."
"Although philosophy offers many problems, both important and useful, that have been fully and carefully discussed by philosophers, those teachings which have been handed down on the subject of moral duties seem to have the widest practical application."
"I believe, of course, that if Plato had been willing to devote himself to forensic oratory, he could have spoken with the greatest eloquence and power; and that if Demosthenes had continued the studies he pursued with Plato and had wished to expound his views, he could have done so with elegance and brilliancy."
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