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[88] 25. But it is often necessary to weigh one1 expediency against another;—for this, as I stated, is a fourth point overlooked by Panaetius. For not only are physical advantages regularly compared with outward advantages [and outward, with physical], but physical advantages are compared with one another, and outward with outward. Physical advantages are compared with outward advantages in some such way as this: one may ask whether it is more desirable to have health than wealth; [external advantages with physical, thus: whether it is better to have wealth than extraordinary bodily strength;] while the physical advantages may be weighed against one another, so that good health is preferred to sensual pleasure, strength to agility. Outward advantages also may be weighed against one another: glory, for example, may be preferred to riches, an income derived from city property to one derived from the farm.

1 Comparison of expediencies.

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hide References (3 total)
  • Cross-references in indexes to this page (3):
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Expediency
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Glory
    • M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis: index, Panaetius
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