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[31]
And therefore Nature's law itself, which protects and conserves
human interests, will surely determine that a man
who is wise, good, and brave, should in emergency
have the necessaries of life transferred to him from
a person who is idle and worthless; for the good
man's death would be a heavy loss to the common
weal; only let him beware that self-esteem and self-love do not find in such a transfer of possessions
[p. 299]
a pretext for wrong-doing. But, thus guided in his
decision, the good man will always perform his duty,
promoting the general interests of human society on
which I am so fond of dwelling.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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