Off. 1.17.1Gradūs autem plūrēs sunt societātis hominum.There are, moreover, several degrees of human society. Off. 1.17.1Ut enim ab illā īnfīnītā discēdātur, propior est eiusdem gentis, nātiōnis, linguae, quā maximē hominēs coniunguntur;For, to leave that boundless one aside, closer is the society of the same race, tribe and language, by which men are most closely joined; Off. 1.17.1interius etiam est eiusdem esse cīvitātis;more intimate still is it to be of the same state; Off. 1.17.1multa enim sunt cīvibus inter sē commūnia, forum, fāna, porticūs, viae, lēgēs, iūra: iūdicia, suffrāgia, cōnsuētūdinēs praetereā et familiāritātēs multīsque cum multīs rēs ratiōnēsque contrāctae.for citizens have many things in common with one another: the forum, temples, colonnades, roads, laws, rights, law courts, votes, and besides these, customs and friendships and the many dealings and business ties of many with many. Off. 1.17.1Artior vērō colligātiō est societātis propinquōrum;Tighter still is the bond of the society of kinsmen; Off. 1.17.1ab illā enim immēnsā societāte hūmānī generis in exiguum angustumque conclūditur.for from that vast society of the human race it is narrowed into a small and confined one. Off. 1.17.54Nam cum sit hoc nātūrā commūne animantium, ut habeant libīdinem prōcreandī, prīma societās in ipsō coniugiō est, proxima in līberīs, deinde ūna domus, commūnia omnia;For since it is common to living creatures by nature that they have the desire to procreate, the first society is in marriage itself, the next in children, then one household with all things shared; Off. 1.17.54id autem est prīncipium urbis et quasi sēminārium reī pūblicae.and this is the beginning of the city and, as it were, the seed-bed of the state.
Off. 1.17.54Sequuntur frātrum coniūnctiōnēs, post cōnsobrīnōrum sobrīnōrumque, quī cum ūnā domō iam capī nōn possint, in aliās domōs tamquam in colōniās exeunt.Then follow the bonds of brothers, and after them those of first and second cousins, who, since they can no longer be contained in one house, go out into other houses as if into colonies. Off. 1.17.54Sequuntur cōnūbia et affīnitātēs, ex quibus etiam plūrēs propinquī;Then follow marriages and connections by marriage, from which come still more kinsmen; Off. 1.17.54quae prōpāgātiō et subolēs orīgō est rērum pūblicārum.and this propagation and offspring is the origin of states. Off. 1.17.54Sanguinis autem coniūnctiō et benivolentia dēvincit hominēs et cāritāte;The bond of blood, moreover, binds men fast by goodwill and by affection; Off. 1.17.55magnum est enim eadem habēre monumenta maiōrum, eīsdem ūtī sacrīs, sepulcra habēre commūnia.for it is a great thing to have the same memorials of ancestors, to practise the same sacred rites, to have tombs in common. Off. 1.17.55Sed omnium societātum nūlla praestantior est, nūlla firmior, quam cum virī bonī mōribus similēs sunt familiāritāte coniūnctī;But of all societies none is more excellent, none more firm, than when good men, alike in character, are joined in close friendship; Off. 1.17.55illud enim honestum quod saepe dīcimus, etiam sī in aliō cernimus, nōs movet atque illī, in quō id īnesse vidētur, amīcōs facit.for that honourable quality of which we often speak, even if we see it in another, moves us and makes us friends to the one in whom it seems to reside.
Off. 1.17.56Et quamquam omnis virtūs nōs ad sē allicit facitque, ut eōs dīligāmus, in quibus ipsa īnesse videātur, tamen iūstitia et līberālitās id maximē efficit.And although every virtue draws us to itself and makes us love those in whom it seems to reside, yet justice and liberality do this most of all. Off. 1.17.56Nihil autem est amābilius nec copulātius quam mōrum similitūdō bonōrum;Nothing, moreover, is more lovable or more binding than likeness of good character; Off. 1.17.56in quibus enim eadem studia sunt, eaedem voluntātēs, in iīs fit ut aequē quisque alterō dēlectētur ac sē ipsō, efficiturque id, quod Pȳthagorās vult in amīcitiā, ut ūnus fīat ex plūribus.for when people have the same pursuits and the same wishes, it comes about that each delights in the other as much as in himself, and what Pythagoras requires in friendship is achieved, that one is made out of many. Off. 1.17.56Magna etiam illa commūnitās est, quae cōnficitur ex beneficiīs ultrō et citrō datīs acceptīs, quae et mūtua et grāta dum sunt, inter quōs ea sunt, firmā dēvinciuntur societāte.Great too is that fellowship which is formed from benefits given and received in turn; and while these are mutual and welcome, those between whom they pass are bound together in a firm society.
Off. 1.17.57Sed cum omnia ratiōne animōque lūstrārīs, omnium societātum nūlla est gravior, nūlla cārior quam ea, quae cum rē pūblicā est ūnī cuique nostrum.But when you have surveyed everything with reason and mind, of all societies none is weightier, none dearer than that which each of us has with the state. Off. 1.17.57Cārī sunt parentēs, cārī līberī, propinquī, familiārēs, sed omnēs omnium cāritātēs patria ūna complexa est, prō quā quis bonus dubitet mortem oppetere, sī eī sit prōfutūrus?Dear are our parents, dear our children, kinsmen and friends, but our country alone has embraced all the affections of all of us; for her what good man would hesitate to meet death, if he would be of service to her? Off. 1.17.57Quō est dētestābilior istōrum immānitās, quī lacerārunt omnī scelere patriam et in eā funditus dēlendā occupātī et sunt et fuērunt.All the more detestable is the savagery of those men who have torn their country apart with every crime and both are and have been busy with destroying her utterly. Off. 1.17.58Sed sī contentiō quaedam et comparātiō fīat, quibus plūrimum tribuendum sit officiī, prīncipēs sint patria et parentēs, quōrum beneficiīs maximīs obligātī sumus,proximī līberī tōtaque domus, quae spectat in nōs sōlōs neque aliud ūllum potest habēre perfugium, deinceps bene convenientēs propinquī, quibuscum commūnis etiam fortūna plērumque est.But if some contest and comparison should arise as to who should be rendered the most duty, first should be our country and our parents, to whose benefits we are most deeply bound; next our children and our whole household, which looks to us alone and can have no other refuge; then kinsmen who are on good terms with us, with whom our fortune too is generally shared.
Off. 1.17.58Quam ob rem necessāria praesidia vītae dēbentur iīs maximē, quōs ante dīxī, vīta autem vīctusque commūnis, cōnsilia, sermōnēs, cohortātiōnēs, cōnsōlātiōnēs, interdum etiam obiūrgātiōnēs in amīcitiīs vigent maximē, estque ea iūcundissima amīcitia, quam similitūdō mōrum coniugāvit.Therefore the necessary supports of life are owed most to those whom I have just named; but a shared life and living, counsel, conversation, encouragement, consolation, and sometimes even rebuke flourish most in friendships, and that friendship is the most delightful which likeness of character has joined.