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On the Good Life
Librarian Note: See Alternate Cover Edition HERE.
This volume brings together his tentative and undogmatic reflections on the good life, in which he discusses duty, friendship, the training of a statesman, and the importance of moral integrity in the search for happiness.
1. discussions at Tusculum (V)- 2. on duties (Ii) --
3. Laelius: On Friendship --
4. on the orator (I) --
5. the dream of Scipio--
Appendices: --
1. the philosophical works of Cicero --
2. the rhetorical works of Cicero --
3. principal Dates --
4. some books about Cicero.
This volume brings together his tentative and undogmatic reflections on the good life, in which he discusses duty, friendship, the training of a statesman, and the importance of moral integrity in the search for happiness.
1. discussions at Tusculum (V)- 2. on duties (Ii) --
3. Laelius: On Friendship --
4. on the orator (I) --
5. the dream of Scipio--
Appendices: --
1. the philosophical works of Cicero --
2. the rhetorical works of Cicero --
3. principal Dates --
4. some books about Cicero.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 47
154 people are currently reading
7,486 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Tullius Cicero
7,781?books1,881?followersBorn 3 January 106 BC, Arpinum, Italy
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Alternate profiles:
°ä¾±³¦¨¦°ù´Ç²Ô
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone
Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Alternate profiles:
°ä¾±³¦¨¦°ù´Ç²Ô
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone
Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.
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September 7, 2023
On the subject of living a good life, Marcus Tullius Cicero had ¨C unsurprisingly ¨C much to say. The great Roman orator, attorney, politician, and philosopher had a great deal to say about all of the most important topics of his time, and the essays collected in this Penguin Books volume with the title On the Good Life provide a good sense of the range and depth of his philosophical ideas.
To say that Cicero lived an eventful life would be an understatement. Born in 106 B.C., Cicero had already made a name for himself as an exceptional lawyer by his early twenties; and his acknowledged abilities as an attorney led, almost inevitably, into political life. He was a consul by 63 B.C., and one of the greatest acts of his political career was the manner in which he thwarted the attempt of Lucius Serguis Catilina, or ¡°Catiline,¡± to take over the government of Rome by force. He also served as governor of Cilicia later in his career.
His consistent advocacy of a republican form of government for Rome got him in trouble more than once. He refused Julius Caesar¡¯s invitation to support him, Crassus, and Pompey in the First Triumvirate, and was exiled from Rome for a time. After the Roman Civil War and the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cicero opposed Mark Antony¡¯s attempts to seize power in post-republican Rome, and for that Antony had Cicero proscribed and killed in 43 B.C.
For On the Good Life, the eminent classical scholar Michael Grant drew from five works among Cicero¡¯s voluminous writings: ¡°On the Orator¡± (55 B.C.); ¡°The Dream of Scipio,¡± a section of Cicero¡¯s On the Commonwealth (c. 52 B.C.); one of the five Tusculan Disputations (c. 45 B.C.); ¡°Laelius: On Friendship¡± (44 B.C.); and On Duties (44 B.C.). Taken together, the five works excerpted here do provide a sense of Cicero¡¯s ideas regarding how to live a good life.
Highlights, for me, included returning to one of the five Tusculan Disputations. When Cicero wrote these philosophical dialogues, he was at his villa in Tusculum, far enough outside the city to provide time and leisure for writing (and to keep him away from the fractious politics of the time). At that time, he was mourning the death in childbirth of his beloved daughter Tullia; in that context, it makes sense, I suppose, that he would be engaging questions of how a human being seeks happiness.
It is striking to consider a number of aspects of the Tusculan Disputations. Cicero addressed them to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus ¨C one year before Brutus participated in the assassination of Julius Caesar, and two years before Cicero himself would be murdered. In a manner somewhat like Plato¡¯s dialogues, the Tusculan Disputations give Cicero the chance to reflect at length upon his philosophy, with his interlocutors simply helping to provide transitions between and among the major ideas of the work.
Translator Grant includes in this volume the fifth and last of the Tusculan Disputations ¨C ¡°Whether Virtue Alone Is Sufficient for a Happy Life.¡± Considering schools of thought like those of the Stoics, Epicureans, and Peripatetics, Cicero answers his title question with a resounding ¡°yes.¡±
Looking at the conventional attributes of a happy life, Cicero finds them all wanting. Considering the wishes for fame and glory that were so characteristic of the Romans of his time, Cicero writes, ¡°Then will insignificance or obscurity or unpopularity prevent a wise man from being happy? No! And besides, we ought to ask ourselves whether the popular affection and glory we so greatly long to win are not more of a burden than a pleasure¡± (p. 106).
Cicero knew whereof he spoke. In his younger years, he had been the people¡¯s great hero, particularly when he foiled the Catilinarian conspiracy to establish a tyranny at Rome. Yet by the time of the Tusculan Disputations, Cicero¡¯s influence (if not his popularity) had waned; his concern at the fall of the Roman Republic was shared by fewer and fewer Romans, and the death of Tullia further reminded him how much of human affairs lies beyond human control.
Small wonder, therefore, that Cicero spends so much of this dialogue discoursing on the misfortunes that can befall a person ¨C poverty, unpopularity, banishment, blindness, deafness, physical pain ¨C and finds himself approving of the Stoics¡¯ ¡°acceptance of the doctrine that the wise man invariably has the power to lead a happy life¡± (p. 116).
¡°Laelius: On Friendship¡± also stood out to me on this return to the work and ideas of Cicero ¨C perhaps because we now live in an era when people often think of ¡°friends¡± in terms of social media. This dialogue was written in 44 B.C. ¨C in the year of Caesar¡¯s assassination, when Cicero himself had but one year of life left.
¡°Laelius on Friendship¡± takes the form of a dialogue spoken among three friends in 129 B.C., after the death of Scipio Africanus, the Roman general and political leader who had led Roman forces to the final victory over their Carthaginian adversaries in the Third Punic War. The ¡°Laelius¡± of this dialogue is Gaius Laelius Sapiens, a Roman politician who was a close friend of Scipio Africanus, and for this dialogue he takes the leading role and sets forth the ideas that Cicero wants to express.
For Laelius ¨C and therefore, presumably, for Cicero ¨C friendship is not an easy thing. He rejects indignantly the views of anyone who holds ¡°that friendships should be cultivated not for the sake of kindly and affectionate feeling at all, but solely for purposes of mutual utility¡± (p. 201). Calling friendship ¡°the noblest and most delightful of all the gifts the gods have given to humankind¡± (p. 201), and stating that ¡°No one can be a friend unless he is a good man¡± (p. 227), Laelius states that friendship, true friendship, can and should offer the opportunity for friends to offer, when necessary, a much-needed bit of tough love:
Never ask your friends for anything that is not right, and never do anything for them yourself unless it is right. But then do it without even waiting to be asked! Always be ready to help; never hang back. Offer advice, too, willingly and without hesitation, just as you yourself, if you have a friend whose advice is good, should always pay great attention to what he says. But when you yourself are the adviser, use your influence, as a friend, to speak frankly, and even, if the occasion demands, severely. And if you are the recipient of equally stern advice, listen to it and act as you are advised. (pp. 200-01)
One gets the sense that Cicero took friendship seriously, and that he would have been a good friend to have.
¡°On the Orator¡± stood out to me on this reading as well ¨C in part because I used to assign this edition of On the Good Life to my students at Penn State, for a rhetoric course that I used to teach there. My students always found Cicero¡¯s words and ideas engaging and thought-provoking.
As ¡°On the Orator¡± was written earlier in life ¨C in 55 B.C., a decade before the period of civil strife that cost Cicero his life ¨C it seems to lack some of the urgency of the other dialogues quoted above. It proceeds from premises to conclusion in a calm, carefully reasoned manner.
Addressing himself to his brother Quintus, Cicero suggests that the principles of effective rhetoric can be observed through watching orators refine their style while arguing in Roman courts; indeed, Cicero further states that legal training is the ideal training for an orator.
¡°On the Orator,¡± like the other works mentioned here, takes the shape of a dialogue. The main speaker here is Crassus ¨C himself an eminent orator of the Roman Republic, and therefore someone whose testimony on the topic would command respect. Denouncing ¡°the sort of pleader who makes a loud noise and gets involved in a row¡±, Crassus sets forth his sense that the true orator is the practitioner of a divinely bestowed gift:
The person we have in mind is¡nothing less than the high priest of an art which, although generously planted by nature in humankind, was nevertheless deemed to be the gift of a god. Certainly, it is something peculiar to the human race. And yet we believe that we did not acquire the gift unaided, but were vouchsafed it from heaven. (p. 307)
And just as Laelius suggests in ¡°Laelius: On Friendship¡± that one cannot be a good friend unless one is a good person, so Crassus states in ¡°On the Orator¡± that one cannot be a truly good orator unless one is a good person. The ability to influence others through one¡¯s rhetoric is not an index of one¡¯s character; Cicero¡¯s time and our own both provide abundant examples of populist rabble-rousers who are distinctly lacking in either character or ethics, but who nonetheless excel at inflaming the emotions of others.
The Ciceronian works excerpted in On the Good Life provide a good sense of this eminent Roman¡¯s philosophy ¨C a set of ideals that the philosopher seems to have tried to follow all his life.
To say that Cicero lived an eventful life would be an understatement. Born in 106 B.C., Cicero had already made a name for himself as an exceptional lawyer by his early twenties; and his acknowledged abilities as an attorney led, almost inevitably, into political life. He was a consul by 63 B.C., and one of the greatest acts of his political career was the manner in which he thwarted the attempt of Lucius Serguis Catilina, or ¡°Catiline,¡± to take over the government of Rome by force. He also served as governor of Cilicia later in his career.
His consistent advocacy of a republican form of government for Rome got him in trouble more than once. He refused Julius Caesar¡¯s invitation to support him, Crassus, and Pompey in the First Triumvirate, and was exiled from Rome for a time. After the Roman Civil War and the assassination of Julius Caesar, Cicero opposed Mark Antony¡¯s attempts to seize power in post-republican Rome, and for that Antony had Cicero proscribed and killed in 43 B.C.
For On the Good Life, the eminent classical scholar Michael Grant drew from five works among Cicero¡¯s voluminous writings: ¡°On the Orator¡± (55 B.C.); ¡°The Dream of Scipio,¡± a section of Cicero¡¯s On the Commonwealth (c. 52 B.C.); one of the five Tusculan Disputations (c. 45 B.C.); ¡°Laelius: On Friendship¡± (44 B.C.); and On Duties (44 B.C.). Taken together, the five works excerpted here do provide a sense of Cicero¡¯s ideas regarding how to live a good life.
Highlights, for me, included returning to one of the five Tusculan Disputations. When Cicero wrote these philosophical dialogues, he was at his villa in Tusculum, far enough outside the city to provide time and leisure for writing (and to keep him away from the fractious politics of the time). At that time, he was mourning the death in childbirth of his beloved daughter Tullia; in that context, it makes sense, I suppose, that he would be engaging questions of how a human being seeks happiness.
It is striking to consider a number of aspects of the Tusculan Disputations. Cicero addressed them to his friend Marcus Junius Brutus ¨C one year before Brutus participated in the assassination of Julius Caesar, and two years before Cicero himself would be murdered. In a manner somewhat like Plato¡¯s dialogues, the Tusculan Disputations give Cicero the chance to reflect at length upon his philosophy, with his interlocutors simply helping to provide transitions between and among the major ideas of the work.
Translator Grant includes in this volume the fifth and last of the Tusculan Disputations ¨C ¡°Whether Virtue Alone Is Sufficient for a Happy Life.¡± Considering schools of thought like those of the Stoics, Epicureans, and Peripatetics, Cicero answers his title question with a resounding ¡°yes.¡±
Looking at the conventional attributes of a happy life, Cicero finds them all wanting. Considering the wishes for fame and glory that were so characteristic of the Romans of his time, Cicero writes, ¡°Then will insignificance or obscurity or unpopularity prevent a wise man from being happy? No! And besides, we ought to ask ourselves whether the popular affection and glory we so greatly long to win are not more of a burden than a pleasure¡± (p. 106).
Cicero knew whereof he spoke. In his younger years, he had been the people¡¯s great hero, particularly when he foiled the Catilinarian conspiracy to establish a tyranny at Rome. Yet by the time of the Tusculan Disputations, Cicero¡¯s influence (if not his popularity) had waned; his concern at the fall of the Roman Republic was shared by fewer and fewer Romans, and the death of Tullia further reminded him how much of human affairs lies beyond human control.
Small wonder, therefore, that Cicero spends so much of this dialogue discoursing on the misfortunes that can befall a person ¨C poverty, unpopularity, banishment, blindness, deafness, physical pain ¨C and finds himself approving of the Stoics¡¯ ¡°acceptance of the doctrine that the wise man invariably has the power to lead a happy life¡± (p. 116).
¡°Laelius: On Friendship¡± also stood out to me on this return to the work and ideas of Cicero ¨C perhaps because we now live in an era when people often think of ¡°friends¡± in terms of social media. This dialogue was written in 44 B.C. ¨C in the year of Caesar¡¯s assassination, when Cicero himself had but one year of life left.
¡°Laelius on Friendship¡± takes the form of a dialogue spoken among three friends in 129 B.C., after the death of Scipio Africanus, the Roman general and political leader who had led Roman forces to the final victory over their Carthaginian adversaries in the Third Punic War. The ¡°Laelius¡± of this dialogue is Gaius Laelius Sapiens, a Roman politician who was a close friend of Scipio Africanus, and for this dialogue he takes the leading role and sets forth the ideas that Cicero wants to express.
For Laelius ¨C and therefore, presumably, for Cicero ¨C friendship is not an easy thing. He rejects indignantly the views of anyone who holds ¡°that friendships should be cultivated not for the sake of kindly and affectionate feeling at all, but solely for purposes of mutual utility¡± (p. 201). Calling friendship ¡°the noblest and most delightful of all the gifts the gods have given to humankind¡± (p. 201), and stating that ¡°No one can be a friend unless he is a good man¡± (p. 227), Laelius states that friendship, true friendship, can and should offer the opportunity for friends to offer, when necessary, a much-needed bit of tough love:
Never ask your friends for anything that is not right, and never do anything for them yourself unless it is right. But then do it without even waiting to be asked! Always be ready to help; never hang back. Offer advice, too, willingly and without hesitation, just as you yourself, if you have a friend whose advice is good, should always pay great attention to what he says. But when you yourself are the adviser, use your influence, as a friend, to speak frankly, and even, if the occasion demands, severely. And if you are the recipient of equally stern advice, listen to it and act as you are advised. (pp. 200-01)
One gets the sense that Cicero took friendship seriously, and that he would have been a good friend to have.
¡°On the Orator¡± stood out to me on this reading as well ¨C in part because I used to assign this edition of On the Good Life to my students at Penn State, for a rhetoric course that I used to teach there. My students always found Cicero¡¯s words and ideas engaging and thought-provoking.
As ¡°On the Orator¡± was written earlier in life ¨C in 55 B.C., a decade before the period of civil strife that cost Cicero his life ¨C it seems to lack some of the urgency of the other dialogues quoted above. It proceeds from premises to conclusion in a calm, carefully reasoned manner.
Addressing himself to his brother Quintus, Cicero suggests that the principles of effective rhetoric can be observed through watching orators refine their style while arguing in Roman courts; indeed, Cicero further states that legal training is the ideal training for an orator.
¡°On the Orator,¡± like the other works mentioned here, takes the shape of a dialogue. The main speaker here is Crassus ¨C himself an eminent orator of the Roman Republic, and therefore someone whose testimony on the topic would command respect. Denouncing ¡°the sort of pleader who makes a loud noise and gets involved in a row¡±, Crassus sets forth his sense that the true orator is the practitioner of a divinely bestowed gift:
The person we have in mind is¡nothing less than the high priest of an art which, although generously planted by nature in humankind, was nevertheless deemed to be the gift of a god. Certainly, it is something peculiar to the human race. And yet we believe that we did not acquire the gift unaided, but were vouchsafed it from heaven. (p. 307)
And just as Laelius suggests in ¡°Laelius: On Friendship¡± that one cannot be a good friend unless one is a good person, so Crassus states in ¡°On the Orator¡± that one cannot be a truly good orator unless one is a good person. The ability to influence others through one¡¯s rhetoric is not an index of one¡¯s character; Cicero¡¯s time and our own both provide abundant examples of populist rabble-rousers who are distinctly lacking in either character or ethics, but who nonetheless excel at inflaming the emotions of others.
The Ciceronian works excerpted in On the Good Life provide a good sense of this eminent Roman¡¯s philosophy ¨C a set of ideals that the philosopher seems to have tried to follow all his life.
June 2, 2011
One of the main issues that I think atheists have to contend with is the question "if there is no god, why be moral?" or to say that morality cannot exist without religion. This provides a lot of answers that are though old very sound to such an argument. He gives a lot of ideas why morality leads to happiness. Why people would choose virtue over vice and so forth, leaving religion out of the question. He offers stories of many in the town and those of popular favor (luckily I had just read Platos Gorgias before this one as I was able to get that reference). Whether or not you know these people he makes each case fairly well so that you can see the points that he is trying to convey. I think the major flaw with this work is his circular arguments, that don't seem to have any real outcomes (despite his seeming to be able to procure an outcome from them). This is both illogical and frustrating. Like I said the best part of this work is not his philosophical rants it is the stories that embody his messages that I think endure.
June 12, 2017
Of course, Cicero never wrote a book called, "On the Good Life." Rather, this is a collection named such by a translator. The texts we consider in this little volume include:
Discussions at Tusculum
On Duties
Laelius: On Friendship
On the Orator
The Dream of Scipio
Each of these works has their highlights and while many of us remember Cicero as the major part of our third year Latin studies (rightfully so, his Latin is wonderful), he's also a great transmitter of Greek thought, not simply in repeating the best of what they said, but by also interpreting the sublimity of Greek thought through the lens of the ordered, propertied Roman world.
Some quotes worth pondering:
(quoting from the Menexenus) "The man who is entirely self-sufficient as regards all the necessary ingredients for leading a happy life, so that these do not in any way depend on other people's good or bad luck or danger at the uncertain mercy of someone else's fortune - he is the person who has found the right way to live. He has done so by making himself an exemplar of moderation, courage, and wisdom. Such a man, as his possessions wax and wane and his children are born and die, will obediently submit to the ancient maxim which directs him to avoid extremes either of joy or grief: for he will always limit his hopes to the things his own unaided efforts can achieve." (p. 72)
"When Lysimachus threatened to kill Theodorus, the philosopher replied, 'What a really superb achievement - to have acquired as much power as a poisonous beetle!'" (p. 114)
"...Socrates was perfectly right when he declared that there is a direct short-cut to winning a reputation: 'Make yourself the sort of man you want people to think you are.'" (p. 142)
"There are two ways of displaying these qualities, and helping those who are in need: either by personal services, or by money. The second way is the easier of the two, especially if you happen to be rich. But the first way is the finer and nobler, and more appropriate for a man of character and distinction. Both methods show the same generous desire to do a favor. But the former is merely a draft on one's financial capital, whereas the latter means drawing on one's own personal energies. Besides, drafts on capital tend to mean that the source of the generosity will in due course dry up. Generosity of this kind, in other words, is self-destructive: the more people you have given money to, the smaller the number you will be able to assist in the future. But if someone is kind and generous with actions involving his own personal abilities and efforts, the more individuals he assists the more helpers he can mobilize for further acts of assistance hereafter. Besides, he will have got into a habit of kindness, which will make him more prepared and better trained for performing similar services on a wider scale in the future." (p. 148)
(quoting Ennius) "'Good deeds, if badly placed, become bad deeds.'" (p. 154)
"Next, his questioner asked him what he thought of money-lending. But then he replied: 'You might as well ask me what I think about murder.'" (p. 171)
"When a man is overflowing with wealth and goods and all kinds of abundance, and has got hold of everything that money can buy - horses, slaves, splendid clothes, expensive plate - he will be very foolish if he fails to add friends to that list, since they are the finest equipment that life can offer. Besides, when it is material property that people are acquiring, they have no idea who is really going to benefit from these goods in the end; they cannot guess on whose behalf, ultimately, they have gone to all this bother. For possessions of this kind get passed on - they go to the next man whose turn it is to rise to the top. Friendship, on the other hand, remains a firm and durable asset. Indeed, even if a man does manage to keep his hands on fortune's transitory gifts, his life will still remain unhappy if it is empty and devoid of friends." (p. 205)
"The reason why bad men cannot be friends with good, and good men with bad, is because of the enormous gulf of character and tastes that yawns between them." (p. 214)
Discussions at Tusculum
On Duties
Laelius: On Friendship
On the Orator
The Dream of Scipio
Each of these works has their highlights and while many of us remember Cicero as the major part of our third year Latin studies (rightfully so, his Latin is wonderful), he's also a great transmitter of Greek thought, not simply in repeating the best of what they said, but by also interpreting the sublimity of Greek thought through the lens of the ordered, propertied Roman world.
Some quotes worth pondering:
(quoting from the Menexenus) "The man who is entirely self-sufficient as regards all the necessary ingredients for leading a happy life, so that these do not in any way depend on other people's good or bad luck or danger at the uncertain mercy of someone else's fortune - he is the person who has found the right way to live. He has done so by making himself an exemplar of moderation, courage, and wisdom. Such a man, as his possessions wax and wane and his children are born and die, will obediently submit to the ancient maxim which directs him to avoid extremes either of joy or grief: for he will always limit his hopes to the things his own unaided efforts can achieve." (p. 72)
"When Lysimachus threatened to kill Theodorus, the philosopher replied, 'What a really superb achievement - to have acquired as much power as a poisonous beetle!'" (p. 114)
"...Socrates was perfectly right when he declared that there is a direct short-cut to winning a reputation: 'Make yourself the sort of man you want people to think you are.'" (p. 142)
"There are two ways of displaying these qualities, and helping those who are in need: either by personal services, or by money. The second way is the easier of the two, especially if you happen to be rich. But the first way is the finer and nobler, and more appropriate for a man of character and distinction. Both methods show the same generous desire to do a favor. But the former is merely a draft on one's financial capital, whereas the latter means drawing on one's own personal energies. Besides, drafts on capital tend to mean that the source of the generosity will in due course dry up. Generosity of this kind, in other words, is self-destructive: the more people you have given money to, the smaller the number you will be able to assist in the future. But if someone is kind and generous with actions involving his own personal abilities and efforts, the more individuals he assists the more helpers he can mobilize for further acts of assistance hereafter. Besides, he will have got into a habit of kindness, which will make him more prepared and better trained for performing similar services on a wider scale in the future." (p. 148)
(quoting Ennius) "'Good deeds, if badly placed, become bad deeds.'" (p. 154)
"Next, his questioner asked him what he thought of money-lending. But then he replied: 'You might as well ask me what I think about murder.'" (p. 171)
"When a man is overflowing with wealth and goods and all kinds of abundance, and has got hold of everything that money can buy - horses, slaves, splendid clothes, expensive plate - he will be very foolish if he fails to add friends to that list, since they are the finest equipment that life can offer. Besides, when it is material property that people are acquiring, they have no idea who is really going to benefit from these goods in the end; they cannot guess on whose behalf, ultimately, they have gone to all this bother. For possessions of this kind get passed on - they go to the next man whose turn it is to rise to the top. Friendship, on the other hand, remains a firm and durable asset. Indeed, even if a man does manage to keep his hands on fortune's transitory gifts, his life will still remain unhappy if it is empty and devoid of friends." (p. 205)
"The reason why bad men cannot be friends with good, and good men with bad, is because of the enormous gulf of character and tastes that yawns between them." (p. 214)
September 17, 2018
Cicero pretty lit, Y'all.
January 31, 2025
On Friendship???
January 1, 2021
This is an interesting read in so many ways. First, how can one be happy? First he tries to define it, but basically he argues it comes down to being "good", doing your duty and wisdom. Then, he goes into duty which he considers all important. Chiefly he discusses duty to serve the State. He then discusses friendship and his views are interesting and frankly I agree with him. Then he discusses oratory which is really a discussion on how to effectively deliver a winning legal argument. As a lawyer, much of the discussion is accurate even today. Finally he discusses the afterlife. Clearly Cicero was an intelligent man. He creates discussions and basically reports what the learned people say. Interesting way of teaching. All in all, it is an enlightening book.
May 8, 2023
Unsurprisingly still relevant today.
"'I like a man without money better than money without a man.'
Today, on the other hand, our whole moral attitude is degraded and corrupted by the worship of wealth. Yet what does it really matter how rich someone is? "
"'I like a man without money better than money without a man.'
Today, on the other hand, our whole moral attitude is degraded and corrupted by the worship of wealth. Yet what does it really matter how rich someone is? "
August 11, 2024
[friendship] it is the most satisfying experience in the world to have someone you can speak freely as your own self about any and every subject upon earth.
how did this cracker hit so many nails on the head over 2000 years ago.
how did this cracker hit so many nails on the head over 2000 years ago.
April 1, 2020
The reason I could tell when I began this book so definitively is that I still have my purchase receipt. (Also on that sheet of paper is which I finished considerably before this one for a reason you will find out for yourself when you pick these books up as well!)
Normally I don't know whenever it is I start these things.
ANYWAY behold! This is a work by M. Tully Cicero, one of the people about whom I made one of my favourite Halloween costumes! He is a good man. I studied him for a year in undergraduate school, enjoying fine delicacies late at night in Main Hall, about this time. It would have been yesterday, though.
I particularly was fond of his Discussions at Tusculum, but it's all worthwhile. You'll see.
Normally I don't know whenever it is I start these things.
ANYWAY behold! This is a work by M. Tully Cicero, one of the people about whom I made one of my favourite Halloween costumes! He is a good man. I studied him for a year in undergraduate school, enjoying fine delicacies late at night in Main Hall, about this time. It would have been yesterday, though.
I particularly was fond of his Discussions at Tusculum, but it's all worthwhile. You'll see.
July 5, 2016
I have probably read this book a dozen times. I have it in two editions. The introduction by Michael Grant (about 50 pages) is worth the price of this book. I have the original Penguin (which I have had for over 30 years) and I have a beautiful FOLIO edition. Curiously, the FOLIO edition lacks the appendices and index of the PENGUIN book (probably a cost saving measure). This is essentially an anthology of Cicero's philosophic and political essays. Michael Grant was a wonderful author and translator and his introductions and his original translations are masterful and clear. He was one of the greatest classicists of his time. I have read dozens of his books.
January 28, 2008
In a world where religiosity is often confused with 'goodness', it is always refreshing to read an ancient treatise on true 'goodness', and to realize that is aligns nicely with your own philosophy. Cicero states in a manner very difficult to refute that to attain those ideals that makes up the very best of humans automatically leads to happiness- courage, wisdom, and moral integrity.
July 19, 2016
Still relevant today damn
March 6, 2019
Good reading for servants of the nation.
April 14, 2022
Generally a good read. Marketed like a "self-help rise&grind" book (and could easily be one) but the translation and excerpts chosen are really excellent.
Contains 4 excerpts from individual texts: The Tusculuans, On Duties, Laelius, On the Orator, and The Dream of Scipio. The surprise find was Laelius: On Friendship, which I think we could all learn from. Sharing some of my favorite quotes here:
"When there is real friendship, no element of falsity or pretence can possibly enter into the matter.
It cannot under any circumstances be derived from any calculation of potential profit. It comes from a feeling of affection, an inclination of the heart."
"When a man shows kindness and generosity, his motive in doing so is not just to exact repayment. We do not hire out our favours and charge interest for them: we behave kindly because that is the natural thing to do. The reason why we count friendship as a blessing is not because we are hoping for a material return. It is because the union is quite enough profit in itself."
"A wise man cannot possibly escape having any feelings of distress whatsoever - unless every trace of humanity has first been rooted out from his heart. Consequently, to remove friendship from our lives, just because it might bring us worries, would be the biggest possible mistake. For if we eliminate all human emotions, there is no difference left."
"When good and wise men enter into a friendship, they conduct it according to two rules. First, there must not be the slightest element of pretense or hypocrisy. Any decent person would rather hate openly than conceal his true thoughts behind an insincere expression. Secondly, a friend should be pleasant in conversation and manner, since these are things which add spice to any relationship. To be solemn and austere on all occasions may be impressive, but friendship ought to be something freer and more relaxed and more agreeable, paying greater attention to pleasant and amiable behaviour."
"People who enjoy being flattered are not really after virtue at all, but merely the outward semblance of virtue.A lot of people are less concerned to be virtuous than to look it."
"Friendship embraces everything worth pursuing by mankind - goodness, and fame, and peace of mind, and satisfaction: the things which make life happy when we have them, whereas without them there can be no question of happiness at all.... This happiness is the summit of our best ambitions. If we are to get it, we shall have to concentrate on raising our behaviour to the very highest standard that morality can achieve. If we fail to do this, we can achieve neither friendship nor, for that matter, any other worthwhile objective."
"If a man ascended in heaven and gazed upon the whole workings of the universe and the beauty of the stars, the marvellous sight would give him no joy if he had to keep it to himself. And yet, if only there had been someone to describe the spectacle to, it would have filled him with delight."
(My favorite part of all this is in the Translator's note where he disclaimed that the love Cicero talks of is not homosexual in nature but rather of statesmanship and love between fellow citizens. That's the Christian puritanism seeping in. I'm sure most Roman statesmen (in the Republic or the Empire) had no qualms about homosexuality. Or, really, makes distinctions between male platonic/sexual love)
(This makes for an interesting interpretation of writings on friendship and love in modern scholarship)
Contains 4 excerpts from individual texts: The Tusculuans, On Duties, Laelius, On the Orator, and The Dream of Scipio. The surprise find was Laelius: On Friendship, which I think we could all learn from. Sharing some of my favorite quotes here:
"When there is real friendship, no element of falsity or pretence can possibly enter into the matter.
It cannot under any circumstances be derived from any calculation of potential profit. It comes from a feeling of affection, an inclination of the heart."
"When a man shows kindness and generosity, his motive in doing so is not just to exact repayment. We do not hire out our favours and charge interest for them: we behave kindly because that is the natural thing to do. The reason why we count friendship as a blessing is not because we are hoping for a material return. It is because the union is quite enough profit in itself."
"A wise man cannot possibly escape having any feelings of distress whatsoever - unless every trace of humanity has first been rooted out from his heart. Consequently, to remove friendship from our lives, just because it might bring us worries, would be the biggest possible mistake. For if we eliminate all human emotions, there is no difference left."
"When good and wise men enter into a friendship, they conduct it according to two rules. First, there must not be the slightest element of pretense or hypocrisy. Any decent person would rather hate openly than conceal his true thoughts behind an insincere expression. Secondly, a friend should be pleasant in conversation and manner, since these are things which add spice to any relationship. To be solemn and austere on all occasions may be impressive, but friendship ought to be something freer and more relaxed and more agreeable, paying greater attention to pleasant and amiable behaviour."
"People who enjoy being flattered are not really after virtue at all, but merely the outward semblance of virtue.A lot of people are less concerned to be virtuous than to look it."
"Friendship embraces everything worth pursuing by mankind - goodness, and fame, and peace of mind, and satisfaction: the things which make life happy when we have them, whereas without them there can be no question of happiness at all.... This happiness is the summit of our best ambitions. If we are to get it, we shall have to concentrate on raising our behaviour to the very highest standard that morality can achieve. If we fail to do this, we can achieve neither friendship nor, for that matter, any other worthwhile objective."
"If a man ascended in heaven and gazed upon the whole workings of the universe and the beauty of the stars, the marvellous sight would give him no joy if he had to keep it to himself. And yet, if only there had been someone to describe the spectacle to, it would have filled him with delight."
(My favorite part of all this is in the Translator's note where he disclaimed that the love Cicero talks of is not homosexual in nature but rather of statesmanship and love between fellow citizens. That's the Christian puritanism seeping in. I'm sure most Roman statesmen (in the Republic or the Empire) had no qualms about homosexuality. Or, really, makes distinctions between male platonic/sexual love)
(This makes for an interesting interpretation of writings on friendship and love in modern scholarship)
January 17, 2021
Bokas tittel er "On the Good life" (Om det gode liv), men en bok med en slik tittel ble aldri skrevet av Cicero. Han skrev derimot en rekke tekster som tar for seg vennskap, dyder, dannelse, plikter etc. Oversetter Michael Grant har her samlet sammen en rekke forskjellige verk (eller utdrag fra verk), som han mener faller inn under det overordnede temaet det gode liv. Jeg synes han lykkes mer eller mindre med sin innsamling.
Antologier er gjerne en ujevn leseopplevelse. Det er ogs? tilfellet med denne boka. Tekstene spriker fra filosofiske utlegninger om begreper som lykke og vennskap, til instruksjoner i talekunsten og metafysiske spekulasjoner om liv etter d?den. Enkelte av tekstene er skrevet i dialogform, andre som brev/essay.
Vel, nok om bokas komposisjon. Hva s? med innholdet? Cicero er en av de st?rste tenkerne Romerriket frembrakte. Politikeren, taleren og filosofen fra senrepublikken har i over 2000 ?r inspirert og fascinert sine lesere. Det er knapt et samtidig emne han ikke befattet seg med. Enkelte av hans r?d ¨C s?rlig om talekunsten ¨C kan med fordel f?lges den dag i dag. En taler b?r g? frem p? denne m?ten:
"First, he must think of what to say. Secondly, once this has been decided, he has to organize his material. Then he has to arrange it in the right order, and attach due weight to its various elements according to his estimation of their relative importance. His next task is to devise suitably embellished language to clothe the results of all this thinking. Subsequently, he must commit this form of words to memory. And then at last comes the time when he has to deliver the end product verbally. "
Et annet fascinerende aspekt ved boka er innblikket Cicero gir oss i sin samtid. For eksempel kunnskapen romerne hadde om indiske yogier:
"And in India, which I suppose is the wildest and most savage land of barbarians in the world. the men they call sages live naked every day of their lives, enduring all the snows and fierce winters of the Caucasus without showing the smallest sign of pain; and then at the last they hurl themselves voluntarily into the flames, and burn to death without uttering a sound. And Indian women, too. when the husband of one of them dies, compete with one another to decide which of their number he loved the best (because each man usually has more than one wife). Whereupon the woman who is proclaimed the winner, escorted by her relations, joyfully joins her husband on the funeral pyre, and the loser goes sadly away"
Det siste verket i boka har tittelen "Somnium Scipionis" (Scipios dr?m) og inneholder et interessant innblikk i antikkens syn p? nattehimmelen. I 146 f.v.t blir den store generalen Scipio Aemilianus opps?kt av sin d?de bestefar mens han sover utenfor byen Karthago. I dr?mmen tar bestefaren Scipio med seg til en plass h?yt opp i stjernehimmelen. Derfra kan de b?de se ned p? Karthago og samtidig skue utover universet. Det som f?lger er en beskrivelse av nattehimmelen: Verden best?r av ni sirkler. Helt ytterst ligger himmelriket hvor de som har tjent sitt land p? en eksemplarisk m?te tilbringer evigheten:
"That is the life which leads to heaven, and to the Company of those who, having completed their lives in the world, are now released from their bodies and dwell in that region you see over there, which the Greeks have taught you people on earth to call the Milky Way. And he pointed to a circle of light, blazing brilliantly among all the other fires."
S? f?lger planetene Saturn, Jupiter og Mars ("red and terrible to men upon Earth"). Midt mellom Jorda og Den himmelske sf?re ligger s? Sola.
"He is the prince, lord and ruler of all the other worlds". Sola blir betjent av Venus og Merkur.
"and the lowest sphere of all contains the Moon, which takes its light, as it evolves, from the rays of the sun. Above the Moon there is nothing which is not eternal, but beneath that level everything is moral and transient (except only for the souls in human beings, which are a gift to mankind from the gods). For the earth remains fixed and without motion; all things are drawn to it, because the natural force of gravity pulls them down."
? lese Cicero kan v?re krevende ¨C mannen er glad i det abstrakte ¨C men like fullt givende. Det er et privilegium ? kunne lytte til en s? velartikulert person fra en annen tid. Man l?rer b?de om b?de datiden og tiden man selv lever i n?r man er i ?samtale? den l?rde romeren.
On the Good life best?r av f?lgende verk:
1. Discussions at Tusculum (del fem)
2. On Duties (del 2)
3. Laelius: On Friendship
4. On the Orator (del 1)
5 The Dream of Scipio
Antologier er gjerne en ujevn leseopplevelse. Det er ogs? tilfellet med denne boka. Tekstene spriker fra filosofiske utlegninger om begreper som lykke og vennskap, til instruksjoner i talekunsten og metafysiske spekulasjoner om liv etter d?den. Enkelte av tekstene er skrevet i dialogform, andre som brev/essay.
Vel, nok om bokas komposisjon. Hva s? med innholdet? Cicero er en av de st?rste tenkerne Romerriket frembrakte. Politikeren, taleren og filosofen fra senrepublikken har i over 2000 ?r inspirert og fascinert sine lesere. Det er knapt et samtidig emne han ikke befattet seg med. Enkelte av hans r?d ¨C s?rlig om talekunsten ¨C kan med fordel f?lges den dag i dag. En taler b?r g? frem p? denne m?ten:
"First, he must think of what to say. Secondly, once this has been decided, he has to organize his material. Then he has to arrange it in the right order, and attach due weight to its various elements according to his estimation of their relative importance. His next task is to devise suitably embellished language to clothe the results of all this thinking. Subsequently, he must commit this form of words to memory. And then at last comes the time when he has to deliver the end product verbally. "
Et annet fascinerende aspekt ved boka er innblikket Cicero gir oss i sin samtid. For eksempel kunnskapen romerne hadde om indiske yogier:
"And in India, which I suppose is the wildest and most savage land of barbarians in the world. the men they call sages live naked every day of their lives, enduring all the snows and fierce winters of the Caucasus without showing the smallest sign of pain; and then at the last they hurl themselves voluntarily into the flames, and burn to death without uttering a sound. And Indian women, too. when the husband of one of them dies, compete with one another to decide which of their number he loved the best (because each man usually has more than one wife). Whereupon the woman who is proclaimed the winner, escorted by her relations, joyfully joins her husband on the funeral pyre, and the loser goes sadly away"
Det siste verket i boka har tittelen "Somnium Scipionis" (Scipios dr?m) og inneholder et interessant innblikk i antikkens syn p? nattehimmelen. I 146 f.v.t blir den store generalen Scipio Aemilianus opps?kt av sin d?de bestefar mens han sover utenfor byen Karthago. I dr?mmen tar bestefaren Scipio med seg til en plass h?yt opp i stjernehimmelen. Derfra kan de b?de se ned p? Karthago og samtidig skue utover universet. Det som f?lger er en beskrivelse av nattehimmelen: Verden best?r av ni sirkler. Helt ytterst ligger himmelriket hvor de som har tjent sitt land p? en eksemplarisk m?te tilbringer evigheten:
"That is the life which leads to heaven, and to the Company of those who, having completed their lives in the world, are now released from their bodies and dwell in that region you see over there, which the Greeks have taught you people on earth to call the Milky Way. And he pointed to a circle of light, blazing brilliantly among all the other fires."
S? f?lger planetene Saturn, Jupiter og Mars ("red and terrible to men upon Earth"). Midt mellom Jorda og Den himmelske sf?re ligger s? Sola.
"He is the prince, lord and ruler of all the other worlds". Sola blir betjent av Venus og Merkur.
"and the lowest sphere of all contains the Moon, which takes its light, as it evolves, from the rays of the sun. Above the Moon there is nothing which is not eternal, but beneath that level everything is moral and transient (except only for the souls in human beings, which are a gift to mankind from the gods). For the earth remains fixed and without motion; all things are drawn to it, because the natural force of gravity pulls them down."
? lese Cicero kan v?re krevende ¨C mannen er glad i det abstrakte ¨C men like fullt givende. Det er et privilegium ? kunne lytte til en s? velartikulert person fra en annen tid. Man l?rer b?de om b?de datiden og tiden man selv lever i n?r man er i ?samtale? den l?rde romeren.
On the Good life best?r av f?lgende verk:
1. Discussions at Tusculum (del fem)
2. On Duties (del 2)
3. Laelius: On Friendship
4. On the Orator (del 1)
5 The Dream of Scipio
October 3, 2024
The corruption and destruction of good things finds its origin in an oft forgotten place, the virtues of every man and woman alive. It is always so refreshing to read those virtuous men and women who came before us. And so the answer to the question, ¡°what is the good life¡± is to live a good, moral, and virtuous life. I am astounded and grateful that Cicero¡¯s thoughts have been carried through countless generations. While reading, it feels as though hope suffuses to the reader of a better way. Down below are some quotes that I particularly loved.
But the implication that something can be right without being expedient, or expedient without being right, is the most pernicious error that could possibly be introduced into human life¡± On Duties part 2 page 124 from On the Good Life
On Themistocles, ¡°Someone asked him whether he ought to give his daughter in marriage to a man who was honest but badly off or to one who was disreputable but rich. ¡®Personally¡¯, he replied, ¡®I like a man without money better than money without a man¡¯ ¡°
On Duties part 2 page 160, from On the Good Life
Why Friendship is not just about seeking common aid for the goal of survival,
¡°Anyone of the opinion that this feeling emanates from mere inadequacy and is entirely concerned with getting hold of someone who will provide us with things that we should like to get us surely assigning friendship altogether too humble and ignoble an origin. For it really cannot just be the child of poverty and destitution. If it were, the less confidence a man felt in himself, the better his qualifications for friendship would have to be regarded. But that is far from being the case. Indeed, the contrary is true: the more confidence a person feels for himself, the stronger his equipment of moral and intellectual gifts will be. And although these are qualities that relieve him of dependence upon others and make him feel completely self sufficient, they will actually strengthen his capacity for making and keeping friends. ¡°
Laelius, on Friendship, page 193, On the Good Life
¡°You need just one thing: enthusiasm - a passion little short of love! Without such passion, no one is going to achieve anything outstanding in life, least of all what you are looking for.¡± On the Orator, page 282, On the Good Life
But the implication that something can be right without being expedient, or expedient without being right, is the most pernicious error that could possibly be introduced into human life¡± On Duties part 2 page 124 from On the Good Life
On Themistocles, ¡°Someone asked him whether he ought to give his daughter in marriage to a man who was honest but badly off or to one who was disreputable but rich. ¡®Personally¡¯, he replied, ¡®I like a man without money better than money without a man¡¯ ¡°
On Duties part 2 page 160, from On the Good Life
Why Friendship is not just about seeking common aid for the goal of survival,
¡°Anyone of the opinion that this feeling emanates from mere inadequacy and is entirely concerned with getting hold of someone who will provide us with things that we should like to get us surely assigning friendship altogether too humble and ignoble an origin. For it really cannot just be the child of poverty and destitution. If it were, the less confidence a man felt in himself, the better his qualifications for friendship would have to be regarded. But that is far from being the case. Indeed, the contrary is true: the more confidence a person feels for himself, the stronger his equipment of moral and intellectual gifts will be. And although these are qualities that relieve him of dependence upon others and make him feel completely self sufficient, they will actually strengthen his capacity for making and keeping friends. ¡°
Laelius, on Friendship, page 193, On the Good Life
¡°You need just one thing: enthusiasm - a passion little short of love! Without such passion, no one is going to achieve anything outstanding in life, least of all what you are looking for.¡± On the Orator, page 282, On the Good Life
August 16, 2024
The entire first book could be written in just two pages- Cicero uses over 100 lol.
If you don¡¯t have to read this book, below are the quotes of true value to takeaway (it will save you a lot of time, thank me later).
¡°I like a man without money better than money without a man.¡± REWIND, PAUSE, AND REFLECT. OKAY CICERO
¡°If you are lonely, every pleasure loses its savour.¡±
¡°You ought to be readier to suffer offence than to cause it.¡±
(On friendship) ¡°That is, do not be too quick to form an attachment; make quite sure first that you are not attaching yourself to someone who does not deserve the association.¡± SCREAMING THIS ONE!!!!
¡°What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd!¡± (It¡¯s giving progenitor of ¡®be yourself because everyone else is already taken¡¯)
¡°But what their customs have achieved is to give them the power to face pain. Whereas our customs, on the other hand, have infected our characters with escapism and luxury and inactivity and idleness and inertia.¡±
If you don¡¯t have to read this book, below are the quotes of true value to takeaway (it will save you a lot of time, thank me later).
¡°I like a man without money better than money without a man.¡± REWIND, PAUSE, AND REFLECT. OKAY CICERO
¡°If you are lonely, every pleasure loses its savour.¡±
¡°You ought to be readier to suffer offence than to cause it.¡±
(On friendship) ¡°That is, do not be too quick to form an attachment; make quite sure first that you are not attaching yourself to someone who does not deserve the association.¡± SCREAMING THIS ONE!!!!
¡°What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd!¡± (It¡¯s giving progenitor of ¡®be yourself because everyone else is already taken¡¯)
¡°But what their customs have achieved is to give them the power to face pain. Whereas our customs, on the other hand, have infected our characters with escapism and luxury and inactivity and idleness and inertia.¡±
Read
October 26, 2023Cicero the decorator crab of antiquity
March 18, 2024
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April 7, 2024
As I gazed out from where I stood, first in one direction and then another, the whole prospect seemed marvelously beautiful
January 29, 2025
Came for the Red Rising and Hunger Games name references
December 29, 2017
On Friendship was incredible. On Duties was above average. Dream of Scipio was interesting. The Orator was unreadable.
August 17, 2015
I also longed to read Cicero's works since I have known that he was brilliant as a second-to-none orator and writer in the Roman world. Moreover, he was a true scholar dedicated to serve the Romans, not merely to serve his superiors for his materialist greed or political position/power.
We readers can learn a lot from his works written some 2,000 years ago as well as from his cool character and scholarly ways of looking at things or at any contemporary event then with unique wisdom and appropriate action.
Some of his quotes I like:
For since the best part of a man is his mind, that, surely, must be where the best, the supreme good you are looking for, is located. (p. 36)
Great deeds are not done by strength or speed or physique: they are the products of thought, and character, and judgement. (p. 167)
To be respected is the crowning glory of old age. (p. 184)
And then consider the activity which we call by the Greek name of philosophy. You will recall that the most learned opinion identifies this as the creator and mother of every other noble art. (p. 253)
I personally was always under the impression that, if virtue can be rationally taught at all, this has to be done by exposition and persuasion, and not by menaces and force and intimidation. (p. 329)
etc.
We readers can learn a lot from his works written some 2,000 years ago as well as from his cool character and scholarly ways of looking at things or at any contemporary event then with unique wisdom and appropriate action.
Some of his quotes I like:
For since the best part of a man is his mind, that, surely, must be where the best, the supreme good you are looking for, is located. (p. 36)
Great deeds are not done by strength or speed or physique: they are the products of thought, and character, and judgement. (p. 167)
To be respected is the crowning glory of old age. (p. 184)
And then consider the activity which we call by the Greek name of philosophy. You will recall that the most learned opinion identifies this as the creator and mother of every other noble art. (p. 253)
I personally was always under the impression that, if virtue can be rationally taught at all, this has to be done by exposition and persuasion, and not by menaces and force and intimidation. (p. 329)
etc.
April 1, 2020
I expected grand truths. What else from a writer whose works have survived so long, who's influenced so many philosophers and authors over centuries? Apparently not. I kept plowing through all the circular rubbish ("All good things are enjoyable. What is enjoyable deserves credit and pride; that is to say, it is glorious: and, if so, it must be praiseworthy. What is praiseworthy has to be morally good: therefore goodness means moral goodness" - ???) deciding that, "hey, if it's not making any sense, at least it gives me a window into the past". I finally had to give it up though - halfway through "Discussions at Tusculum". I do admire his humanistic outlook in the politically oppressive environment he was living in and maybe some things have been lost in translation, but is Western philosophy (setting aside the Greeks for a moment) seriously based on these nonsensical foundations?
March 23, 2021
Jeez, that was a real slog. I was hoping this translation of Cicero would be a bit more accessible. More to the point, though, I was hoping it would be a bit more...philosophical. Stoic, to be precise. I understood that Cicero was a close friend, or at least an associate, of Cato the Younger, a renowned Stoic and mortal enemy of Julius Caesar. Cicero, however, appears to have cherry-picked the best parts of Stoicism and other philosophical schools and combined them into a convenient sort of personal philosophy for himself, very little of which shines through in this collection of his surviving works at any rate. Though I'm glad to know where Cicero stood on, say, the subject of oratory and the necessary virtues and characteristics of a great orator, I do wish it hadn't taken me three months to absorb his writings on the subject.
February 20, 2025
If your time is limited, there are texts from antiquity that I consider more important, such as Plato¡¯s Republic or Aristotle¡¯s Politics. But if you are looking beyond that, I do recommend On the Good Life ¨C despite my middling three-star rating, and numerous problems I have with this text and its translation - if you want to look at a point of view on ethics and morality and duty which predates The Enlightenment and our modern understanding of neurology. I¡¯d love to read a book review of this by Steven Pinker showing the interface of external modalities such as religious inclination or political ideology with whole-brain integration, or at a bare minimum, a comparison of the primary psychological profiles in response to the text. None of the five-star reviews I looked at seem to be aware of this as a talking point. But we really do need to look at this against what we know now, because readers are taking their time in the here and now and wondering what might be applicable.
Firstly, Cicero¡¯s contrived faux dialog doesn¡¯t seem as natural a writing technique compared to Plato¡¯s Republic. Indeed, these so-called Dialogs combine ideas from diverse conversations that were written later, so we might have four pages of one person¡¯s digressions like Laelius who goes on about son of so-and-so, who himself knew so-and-so, regarded by his people as such-and-such, said to me those long days past, and after endless wandering in the wilderness: ¡°but to return to my main point.¡± These interminable digressions are absolutely exasperating, a near-inchoate patchwork of writings that stem from different periods. Where is Occam¡¯s Razor when you need it?
Secondly, the arguments are trite and circular in logic. Cicero expounds upon statements such as ¡°All good things are enjoyable¡± for page after page, toying with semantics and subtleties of meaning.
Thirdly, Cicero spends a lot of time describing the difference between the stoics (who maintained there were three main divisions of knowledge) and Epicureans (who maintained there were only two). From a historical perspective, to understand what informed the leading intellectual of the day, this may shed light on the course of events as civilization advanced. But, of course, this is all pre-scientific in outlook. None of this navel gazing supplants the need for the Scientific Method: repeatable and verifiable evidence.
Cicero seems to believe that you can¡¯t be a bad person if you are happy, that it is unhappy people who become the bad actors in society. A primary consideration for happiness is the avoidance of extremes of passion or temporary indulgences (gluttony, lust, avarice), or basically a phlegmatic, aloof, or stoic attitude.
Fourthly, and most interesting for me, was the section called ¡°The Dream of Scipio¡± which is the famous text about Music of the Spheres. Of course the science is incorrect because this predates the telescope by more than a thousand years. Nevertheless I was impressed by just how much they did know simply by careful observation, taking the time to write texts which hundreds of years later others would ponder and elaborate upon. For instance, they knew about the two poles being icy barren regions, the two temperate zones around the equator which form the antipodes of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, they knew about the planets as far out as Saturn. There are also some ideas which later showed up in Christianity, such as the separation of the earthy body from the eternal soul, and that giving into the desires of the mortal flesh corrupts the purity of the eternal soul (instant gratification versus delayed gratification).
Lastly, a minor quibble: the translation gives no sense of the period. Too many modernized phrases like ¡°Hey, wait a minute¡± or ¡°Now, hold on!¡±
If you are looking for pithy one-liners to meditate upon as a thought-of-the-day, I recommend Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or the Enchiridion by Epictetus. But The Dream of Scipio may also be worthy of your time.
Firstly, Cicero¡¯s contrived faux dialog doesn¡¯t seem as natural a writing technique compared to Plato¡¯s Republic. Indeed, these so-called Dialogs combine ideas from diverse conversations that were written later, so we might have four pages of one person¡¯s digressions like Laelius who goes on about son of so-and-so, who himself knew so-and-so, regarded by his people as such-and-such, said to me those long days past, and after endless wandering in the wilderness: ¡°but to return to my main point.¡± These interminable digressions are absolutely exasperating, a near-inchoate patchwork of writings that stem from different periods. Where is Occam¡¯s Razor when you need it?
Secondly, the arguments are trite and circular in logic. Cicero expounds upon statements such as ¡°All good things are enjoyable¡± for page after page, toying with semantics and subtleties of meaning.
Thirdly, Cicero spends a lot of time describing the difference between the stoics (who maintained there were three main divisions of knowledge) and Epicureans (who maintained there were only two). From a historical perspective, to understand what informed the leading intellectual of the day, this may shed light on the course of events as civilization advanced. But, of course, this is all pre-scientific in outlook. None of this navel gazing supplants the need for the Scientific Method: repeatable and verifiable evidence.
Cicero seems to believe that you can¡¯t be a bad person if you are happy, that it is unhappy people who become the bad actors in society. A primary consideration for happiness is the avoidance of extremes of passion or temporary indulgences (gluttony, lust, avarice), or basically a phlegmatic, aloof, or stoic attitude.
Fourthly, and most interesting for me, was the section called ¡°The Dream of Scipio¡± which is the famous text about Music of the Spheres. Of course the science is incorrect because this predates the telescope by more than a thousand years. Nevertheless I was impressed by just how much they did know simply by careful observation, taking the time to write texts which hundreds of years later others would ponder and elaborate upon. For instance, they knew about the two poles being icy barren regions, the two temperate zones around the equator which form the antipodes of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, they knew about the planets as far out as Saturn. There are also some ideas which later showed up in Christianity, such as the separation of the earthy body from the eternal soul, and that giving into the desires of the mortal flesh corrupts the purity of the eternal soul (instant gratification versus delayed gratification).
Lastly, a minor quibble: the translation gives no sense of the period. Too many modernized phrases like ¡°Hey, wait a minute¡± or ¡°Now, hold on!¡±
If you are looking for pithy one-liners to meditate upon as a thought-of-the-day, I recommend Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or the Enchiridion by Epictetus. But The Dream of Scipio may also be worthy of your time.
June 24, 2021
Michael Grant's a strong translator - a real translation machine, as it were, and a success in academia, to boot - and this selection of materials (complementing his prior works on Cicero's speeches and another volume of excerpts) delivers the goods. However, the way Penguin has mashed up Plutarch, Cicero, Seneca, et al. makes this stuff difficult to follow ("On Friendship," for example, appears in two editions, with two separate translators).
The Oxford editions offer more material but are a bit drier, and the innumerable Loeb volumes are clunkier yet more precise line-by-line translations (at least going off the Latin side-by-side materials).
There's no easy way to go through this sizeable body of work, but I do recommend this volume's translations of "On Duties (II)" and "On the Orator (I)" (the latter, in particular, is highly readable, extremely fast-paced, and thoroughly engaging - though this is largely because Cicero's works on rhetoric, being his area of genuine subject-matter expertise, outstrip his lively but somewhat rough-around-the-edges philosophical works (his speeches are probably the easiest way to master Latin declamation and translation, given how crisp that writing is - I'd recommend reading those in a side-by-side translation, although Michael Grant's translation is lively and relatively faithful to the original).
The Oxford editions offer more material but are a bit drier, and the innumerable Loeb volumes are clunkier yet more precise line-by-line translations (at least going off the Latin side-by-side materials).
There's no easy way to go through this sizeable body of work, but I do recommend this volume's translations of "On Duties (II)" and "On the Orator (I)" (the latter, in particular, is highly readable, extremely fast-paced, and thoroughly engaging - though this is largely because Cicero's works on rhetoric, being his area of genuine subject-matter expertise, outstrip his lively but somewhat rough-around-the-edges philosophical works (his speeches are probably the easiest way to master Latin declamation and translation, given how crisp that writing is - I'd recommend reading those in a side-by-side translation, although Michael Grant's translation is lively and relatively faithful to the original).
July 11, 2023
I¡¯d put Cicero in the class of authors that you really should make a point to read before you die. This seems like one of the better collections of his writing, but I¡¯ve only just begun on my fabulous journey with the chickpea man.
The man can sell you philosophy as a discipline and undertaking a broad learning project, let me tell you! I loved the following in particular:
¡°What a lot of trouble one avoids when one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd! To have no job, to devote one¡¯s time to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. And by literature, I mean the works which give us an opportunity to understand the universe and nature in all its infinity, and the world in which we ourselves live, its sky, land, and sea.¡± P107
Nevertheless, my interpretation of Cicero¡¯s opinion toward philosophy is that philosophy is the most enjoyable, pure, beautiful thing you can spend your time doing, but ultimately it should probably be done to make you a better public servant, or at least only in the time left over after improving your country. This is too responsible for me, ha. Contrast this with my read on Seneca¡¯s vibe, which is more like, ¡°yeah just study all the time, it¡¯s the best¡±, which more precisely confirms my biases and interests.
Overall, this book was an absolute joy to read.
The man can sell you philosophy as a discipline and undertaking a broad learning project, let me tell you! I loved the following in particular:
¡°What a lot of trouble one avoids when one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd! To have no job, to devote one¡¯s time to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. And by literature, I mean the works which give us an opportunity to understand the universe and nature in all its infinity, and the world in which we ourselves live, its sky, land, and sea.¡± P107
Nevertheless, my interpretation of Cicero¡¯s opinion toward philosophy is that philosophy is the most enjoyable, pure, beautiful thing you can spend your time doing, but ultimately it should probably be done to make you a better public servant, or at least only in the time left over after improving your country. This is too responsible for me, ha. Contrast this with my read on Seneca¡¯s vibe, which is more like, ¡°yeah just study all the time, it¡¯s the best¡±, which more precisely confirms my biases and interests.
Overall, this book was an absolute joy to read.
June 29, 2023
The greatest orator in Roman history gives some reflections on various topics. Written while in exile during the reign of Caesar and shortly after the death of his daughter, Cicero was finishing up some works he had put off since he considered his political life over. He covers what it takes to live a good life, mostly being of moral character and the rest will take care of itself; on the duties of a proper Roman toward the state by living the good life and setting a good example; on friendship, how a friend in need is a friend indeed; and a treatise on being an orator, by which he means a statesman. He ends with a short religious work describing the universe with Earth at the center and the nature of the human soul.
Really well written though Cicero sometimes choses the rhetorical practice of arguing both sides of an issue. Thomas Jefferson referenced his work extensively while writing the U.S. Constitution.
Really well written though Cicero sometimes choses the rhetorical practice of arguing both sides of an issue. Thomas Jefferson referenced his work extensively while writing the U.S. Constitution.
January 30, 2022
(Partially Read. Completed sections: "On Duties," "On Friendship," and "The Dream of Scipio.")
It always feels strange giving an incredibly influential book that has survived thousands of years a lower rating since I don't feel qualified to judge it. This is one of those books that I personally didn't enjoy reading, largely because much of the motive for being moral here seems to come from how it benefits the self through reputation and others feeling indebted to you. It rubbed me the wrong way. Still, it is an intriguing insight into ancient Roman politics and culture and the writing itself is relatively straightforward. I am rounding this review up to three stars because I believe it is difficult to deeply evaluate a book that I had little time to read before moving on to the next, and that if I had read it more than once it may have proved to have more value to me.
It always feels strange giving an incredibly influential book that has survived thousands of years a lower rating since I don't feel qualified to judge it. This is one of those books that I personally didn't enjoy reading, largely because much of the motive for being moral here seems to come from how it benefits the self through reputation and others feeling indebted to you. It rubbed me the wrong way. Still, it is an intriguing insight into ancient Roman politics and culture and the writing itself is relatively straightforward. I am rounding this review up to three stars because I believe it is difficult to deeply evaluate a book that I had little time to read before moving on to the next, and that if I had read it more than once it may have proved to have more value to me.
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