This sort of man is rare; and indeed all excellent things are rare; and nothing in the world is so hard to find as a thing entirely and completely perfect of its kind.
Cicero: “This sort of man is rare; and indeed all excellent things are rare; and nothing in the world is so hard to find as a…”
Editor's note · Context
Reflecting on the scarcity of ideal individuals, this passage makes a broader philosophical point about the inherent rarity of all excellent and perfectly complete things.
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For self-control is the foe of the passions, and the passions are the handmaids of pleasure.
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