[18]
6. Now, of the four divisions which we have1
made of the essential idea of moral goodness, the
first, consisting in the knowledge of truth, touches
human nature most closely. For we are all attracted
and drawn to a zeal for learning and knowing; and
we think it glorious to excel therein, while we count
it base and immoral to fall into error, to wander
from the truth, to be ignorant, to be led astray. In
this pursuit, which is both natural and morally
right, two errors are to be avoided: first, we must
not treat the unknown as known and too readily
accept it; and he who wishes to avoid this error (as
[p. 21]
all should do) will devote both time and attention
to the weighing of evidence.
1 A. Wisdom.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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