[6]
For if we are looking for mental enjoyment
and relaxation, what pleasure can be compared
with the pursuits of those who are always studying
out something that will tend toward and effectively
promote a good and happy life? Or, if regard is
had for strength of character and virtue, then this
is the method by which we can attain to those
qualities, or there is none at all. And to say that
there is no “method” for securing the highest blessings, when none even of the least important concerns
is without its method, is the language of people who
talk without due reflection and who blunder in matters of the utmost importance. Furthermore, if
there is really a way to learn virtue, where shall one
look for it, when one has turned aside from this
field of learning?
Now, when I am advocating the study of philosophy, I usually discuss this subject at greater length,
as I have done in another of my books. For the
present I meant only to explain why, deprived of
the tasks of public service, I have devoted myself to
this particular pursuit.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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