For neither goodness nor generosity nor courtesy can exist, any more than friendship can, if they are not sought of and for themselves, but are cultivated only for the sake of sensual pleasure or personal advantage.
In his work on moral obligations, Cicero asserts that true virtues and friendship must be pursued for their intrinsic value, not for selfish gain.
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In the matter of a promise one must always consider the meaning and not the mere words.
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.
He was wrong; for deceit does not remove the guilt of perjury--it merely aggravates it. #The ancient Roman discipline.# His cunning that impudently tried to masquerade as prudence was, therefore, only folly.
Besides, he will not expose anyone to hatred or disrepute by groundless charges, but he will surely cleave to justice and honour so closely that he will submit to any loss, however heavy, rather than be untrue to them, and will face death…
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