[15]
Why should I recount the multitude of arts without
which life would not be worth living at all? For
[p. 183]
how would the sick be healed? What pleasure
would the hale enjoy? What comforts should we
have, if there were not so many arts to minister to
our wants? In all these respects the civilized life
of man is far removed from the standard of the
comforts and wants of the lower animals. And, without the association of men, cities could not have been
built or peopled. In consequence of city life, laws
and customs were established, and then came the
equitable distribution of private rights and a definite
social system. Upon these institutions followed a
more humane spirit and consideration for others,
with the result that life was better supplied with all
it requires, and by giving and receiving, by mutual
exchange of commodities and conveniences, we
succeeded in meeting all our wants.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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