[128]
But we should give no heed to the Cynics (or to
some Stoics who are practically Cynics) who censure
and ridicule us for holding that the mere mention of
some actions that are not immoral is shameful, while
other things that are immoral we call by their real
names. Robbery, fraud, and adultery, for example,
are immoral in deed, but it is not indecent to name
them. To beget children in wedlock is in deed
morally right; to speak of it is indecent. And they
assail modesty with a great many other arguments
to the same purport. But as for us, let us follow
Nature and shun everything that is offensive to our
eyes or our ears. So, in standing or walking, in
sitting or reclining, in our expression, our eyes, or
the movements of our hands, let us preserve what
we have called “propriety.”
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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