For, without any conflict with nature's laws, it is granted that everybody may prefer to secure for himself rather than for his neighbour what is essential for the conduct of life; but nature's laws do forbid us to increase our means, wealth, and resources by despoiling others.
Cicero distinguishes between legitimate self-interest and the morally forbidden act of enriching oneself by harming others, grounded in natural law.
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For self-control is the foe of the passions, and the passions are the handmaids of pleasure.
But those wars which have glory for their end must be carried on with less bitterness.
It is, therefore, an excellent rule that they give who bid us not to do a thing, when there is a doubt whether it be right or wrong; for righteousness shines with a brilliance of its own, but doubt is a sign that we are thinking of a…
So, then, it is truth that is, as it were, the stuff with which this virtue has to deal and on which it employs itself.
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