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[113] How much Ulysses endured on those long wanderings, when he submitted to the service even of women (if Circe and Calypso may be called women) and strove in every word to be courteous and complaisant to all! And, arrived at home, he brooked even the insults of his men-servants and maidservants, in order to attain in the end the object of his desire. But Ajax, with the temper he is represented as having, would have chosen to meet death a thousand times rather than suffer such indignities!

If we take this into consideration, we shall see [p. 117] that it is each man's duty to weigh well what are1 his own peculiar traits of character, to regulate these properly, and not to wish to try how another man's would suit him. For the more peculiarly his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

1 Let every one sustain his own character.

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load focus Notes (Walter Miller, 1913)
load focus Introduction (Walter Miller, 1913)
load focus Latin (Walter Miller, 1913)
hide References (4 total)
  • Cross-references in indexes to this page (4):
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Ajax
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Calypso
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Circe
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Ulysses
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