On the record44 BC
If you take away emotion, what difference remains I don't say between a man and a beast, but between a man and a stone or a log of wood, or anything else of that kind?
Said by
Cicero
Source
gutenberg.orgCicero: “If you take away emotion, what difference remains I don't say between a man and a beast, but between a man and a stone…”
Editor's note · Context
In a philosophical inquiry into human nature, Cicero poses a rhetorical question highlighting the fundamental role of emotion in distinguishing humanity from inanimate objects.
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But for all cases we have one rule, with which I desire you to be perfectly familiar: that which seems expedient must not be morally wrong; or, if it is morally wrong, it must not seem expedient.
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But while they steer clear of the one kind of injustice, they fall into the other: they are traitors to social life, for they contribute to it none of their interest, none of their effort, none of their means.
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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…
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