The bonds of common blood hold men fast through good-will and affection; *55* for it means much to share in common the same family traditions, the same forms of domestic worship, and the same ancestral tombs.
Cicero explains how shared lineage and common traditions strengthen the bonds of goodwill and affection among people.
Share
More from Cicero
Such acts of generosity are not to be so highly esteemed as those which are performed with judgment, deliberation, and mature consideration.
And so, when we have leisure from the demands of business cares, we are eager to see, to hear, to learn something new, and we esteem a desire to know the secrets or wonders of creation as indispensable to a happy life.
Moreover, all our thought and mental activity will be devoted either to planning for things that are morally right and that conduce to a good and happy life, or to the pursuits of science and learning.
But for the most part, people are led to wrong-doing in order to secure some personal end; in this vice, avarice is generally the controlling motive.
Other voices in this conversation
