Off. 1.18.1Sed in hīs omnibus officiīs tribuendīs videndum erit, quid cuique maximē necesse sit, et quid quisque vel sine nōbīs aut possit cōnsequī aut nōn possit.But in rendering all these duties we shall have to see what each person most needs, and what each either could or could not obtain even without us. Off. 1.18.1Ita nōn iīdem erunt necessitūdinum gradūs, quī temporum;Thus the degrees of relationship will not be the same as those of circumstance; Off. 1.18.1suntque officia, quae aliīs magis quam aliīs dēbeantur;and there are duties which are owed to some more than to others; Off. 1.18.1ut vīcīnum citius adiūverīs in frūctibus percipiendīs quam aut frātrem aut familiārem, at, sī līs in iūdiciō sit, propinquum potius et amīcum quam vīcīnum dēfenderīs.so you would help a neighbour in gathering his harvest sooner than either a brother or a friend, but if there were a lawsuit in court, you would defend a kinsman and friend rather than a neighbour. Off. 1.18.1Haec igitur et tālia circumspicienda sunt in omnī officiō , ut bonī ratiōcinātōrēs officiōrum esse possīmus et addendō dēdūcendōque vidēre, quae reliquī summa fīat, ex quō, quantum cuique dēbeātur, intellegās.These and such things, then, must be considered in every duty, so that we may be good calculators of duties and be able, by adding and subtracting, to see what the sum of the remainder is, from which you may understand how much is owed to each.
Off. 1.18.60Sed ut nec medicī nec imperātōrēs nec ōrātōrēs, quamvīs artis praecepta percēperint, quicquam magnā laude dignum sine ūsū et exercitātiōne cōnsequī possunt, sīc officiī cōnservandī praecepta trāduntur illa quidem, ut facimus ipsī, sed reī magnitūdō ūsum quoque exercitātiōnemque dēsīderat.But just as neither doctors nor generals nor orators, however well they have learned the precepts of their art, can achieve anything worthy of great praise without practice and training, so the precepts for keeping duty are indeed handed down, as we are doing ourselves, but the greatness of the matter demands practice and training as well. Off. 1.18.60Atque ab iīs rēbus, quae sunt in iūre societātis hūmānae, quem ad modum dūcātur honestum, ex quō aptum est officium, satis ferē dīximus.And how the honourable, on which duty depends, is derived from those things which belong to the law of human society, we have now said almost enough. Off. 1.18.61Intelligendum autem est, cum prōposita sint genera quattuor, ē quibus honestās officiumque mānāret, splendidissimum vidērī, quod animō magnō ēlātōque hūmānāsque rēs dēspiciente factum sit.We must understand, moreover, that, of the four categories set out from which the honourable and duty flow, that seems most splendid which is done with a great and lofty spirit that looks down on human affairs.
Off. 1.18.61Itaque in probrīs maximē in prōmptū est sī quid tāle dīcī potest: " "Vōs enim, iuvenēs, animum geritis muliebrem," "illa" virgō "virī" " et sī quid eius modī: " Salmacida, spolia sIne sūdōre et sanguine.And so in reproaches nothing is more readily to hand than anything of this sort, if it can be said: 'For you, young men, bear a woman's spirit, but that maiden a man's,' and anything of this kind: 'Salmacis' son, spoils without sweat and blood!' Off. 1.18.61" Contrāque in laudibus, quae magnō animō et fortiter excellenterque gesta sunt, ea nesciō quō modō quasi plēniōre ōre laudāmus.On the other hand, in praises, what has been done with a great spirit, bravely and outstandingly, we somehow praise as if with a fuller mouth. Off. 1.18.61Hinc rhētorum campus dē Marathōne, Salamīne, Plataeīs, Thermopylīs, Leuctrīs, hinc noster Cocles, hinc Deciī, hinc Cn. et P. Scīpiōnēs, hinc M. Mārcellus, innumerābilēs aliī, maximēque ipse populus Rōmānus animī magnitūdine excellit.Hence the rhetoricians' field of Marathon, Salamis, Plataea, Thermopylae and Leuctra; hence our own Cocles, hence the Decii, hence Gnaeus and Publius Scipio, hence Marcus Marcellus and countless others; and above all the Roman people itself excels in greatness of spirit.
Off. 1.18.61Dēclārātur autem studium bellicae glōriae, quod statuās quoque vidēmus ōrnātū ferē mīlitārī.Their zeal for military glory is shown, moreover, by the fact that we see even their statues generally in military dress.