Off. 1.30.1Sed pertinet ad omnem officiī quaestiōnem semper in prōmptū habēre, quantum nātūra hominis pecudibus reliquīsque bēluīs antecēdat;But it is relevant to every inquiry into duty always to keep ready in mind how far the nature of man surpasses cattle and the other beasts; Off. 1.30.1illae nihil sentiunt nisi voluptātem ad eamque feruntur omnī impetū, hominis autem mēns discendō alitur et cōgitandō, semper aliquid aut anquīrit aut agit videndīque et audiendī dēlectātiōne dūcitur.they feel nothing but pleasure and are borne towards it with every impulse, whereas the mind of man is nourished by learning and thinking, is always either investigating or doing something, and is led on by the delight of seeing and hearing. Off. 1.30.1Quīn etiam, sī quis est paulō ad voluptātēs prōpēnsior, modo nē sit ex pecudum genere (sunt enim quīdam hominēs nōn rē, sed nōmine), sed sī quis est paulō ērēctior, quamvīs voluptāte capiātur, occultat et dissimulat appetītum voluptātis propter verēcundiam.Indeed, if anyone is a little too inclined towards pleasures, provided he is not of the race of cattle (for some are men not in reality but in name), but if anyone stands a little higher, even though he is captivated by pleasure, he hides and conceals his appetite for pleasure out of modesty.
Off. 1.30.106Ex quō intellegitur corporis voluptātem nōn satis esse dignam hominis praestantiā, eamque contemnī et rēicī oportēre;From this it is understood that bodily pleasure is not sufficiently worthy of the excellence of man, and that it ought to be despised and rejected; Off. 1.30.106sīn sit quispiam, quī aliquid tribuat voluptātī, dīligenter eī tenendum esse eius fruendae modum.but if there should be someone who sets some value on pleasure, he must carefully keep within limits in enjoying it. Off. 1.30.106Itaque vīctus cultusque corporis ad valētūdinem referātur et ad vīrēs, nōn ad voluptātem.So let food and the care of the body be directed to health and strength, not to pleasure. Off. 1.30.106Atque etiam sī cōnsīderāre volumus, quae sit in nātūrā excellentia et dignitās, intellegēmus, quam sit turpe diffluere luxuriā et dēlicātē ac molliter vīvere quamquē honestum parcē, continenter, sevērē, sōbrie.And if we are willing to consider what excellence and dignity there is in our nature, we shall understand how shameful it is to dissolve in luxury and to live daintily and softly, and how honourable to live frugally, with self-restraint, austerely and soberly. Off. 1.30.107Intellegendum etiam est duābus quasi nōs ā nātūrā indūtōs esse persōnīs;We must also understand that we have been clothed by nature, as it were, with two characters; Off. 1.30.107quārum ūna commūnis est ex eō, quod omnēs participēs sumus ratiōnis praestantiaeque eius, quā antecellimus bēstiīs, ā quā omne honestum decōrumque trahitur, et ex quā ratiō inveniendī officiī exquīritur, altera autem, quae propriē singulīs est tribūta.of these one is common, arising from the fact that we all share in reason and in that superiority by which we surpass the beasts, from which all that is honourable and fitting is derived, and from which the method of discovering duty is sought out; the other, however, is the one assigned specifically to individuals.
Off. 1.30.107Ut enim in corporibus magnae dissimilitūdinēs sunt (aliōs vidēmus vēlōcitāte ad cursum, aliōs vīribus ad luctandum valēre, itemque in fōrmīs aliīs dignitātem īnesse, aliīs venustātem), sīc in animīs exsistunt maiōrēs etiam varietātēs.For as in bodies there are great differences (some, we see, are strong in speed for running, others in strength for wrestling, and likewise in appearance some have dignity, others charm), so in minds there exist even greater varieties. Off. 1.30.108Erat in L. Crassō, in L. Philippō multus lepōs, maior etiam magisque dē industriā in C. Caesare L. fīliō;In Lucius Crassus and in Lucius Philippus there was much wit, and still more, and more studied, in Gaius Caesar, son of Lucius; Off. 1.30.108at īsdem temporibus in M. Scaurō et in M. Drūsō adulēscente singulāris sevēritās, in C. Laeliō multa hilaritās, in eius familiārī Scīpiōne ambitiō maior, vīta trīstior.but in the same period there was remarkable severity in Marcus Scaurus and in the young Marcus Drusus, much cheerfulness in Gaius Laelius, and in his friend Scipio greater ambition and a more austere life. Off. 1.30.108Dē Graecīs autem dulcem et facētum fēstīvīque sermōnis atque in omnī ōrātiōne simulātōrem, quem Graecī nōminārunt Sōcratem, accēpimus contrā, Pȳthagoram et Periclem summam auctōritātem cōnsecūtōs sine ūllā hilaritāte hilaritate.Among the Greeks, moreover, we have heard that Socrates was pleasant and witty, a man of playful conversation and in all his talk a dissembler, whom the Greeks called an eirōn; whereas Pythagoras and Pericles, we hear, attained the highest authority without any cheerfulness.
Off. 1.30.108Callidum Hannibalem ex Poenōrum, ex nostrīs ducibus Q. Maximum accēpimus, facile cēlāre, tacēre, dissimulāre, īnsidiārī, praeripere hostium cōnsilia.We have heard that Hannibal among the Carthaginian generals, and Quintus Maximus among ours, were shrewd, readily able to conceal, keep silent, dissemble, lay ambushes and forestall the enemy's plans. Off. 1.30.108In quō genere Graecī Themistoclem et Pheraeum Iāsonem cēterīs antepōnunt;In this kind the Greeks place Themistocles and Jason of Pherae before all others; Off. 1.30.108in prīmīsque versūtum et callidum factum Solōnis, quī, quō et tūtior eius vīta esset et plūs aliquantō reī pūblicae prōdesset, furere sē simulāvit.and especially crafty and shrewd was the act of Solon, who, so that his own life might be safer and he might be of somewhat more service to the state, pretended to be mad. Off. 1.30.109Sunt hīs aliī multum disparēs, simplicēs et apertī.There are others very unlike these, straightforward and open. Off. 1.30.109quī nihil ex occultō, nihil dē īnsidiīs agendum putant, vēritātis cultōrēs, fraudis inimīcī, itemque aliī, quī quidvīs perpetiantur, cuivīs dēserviant, dum, quod velint, cōnsequantur, ut Sullam et M. Crassum vidēbāmus.They think nothing should be done secretly, nothing by stratagem, being devotees of truth and enemies of deceit; and likewise there are others who would endure anything and be slaves to anyone, provided they obtain what they want, as we used to see in Sulla and Marcus Crassus.
Off. 1.30.109Quō in genere versūtissimum et patientissimum Lacedaemonium Lȳsandrum accēpimus, contrāque Callicratidam, quī praefectus classis proximus post Lȳsandrum fuit;In this kind we have heard that the Spartan Lysander was most crafty and most patient, and that Callicratidas, who was admiral of the fleet next after Lysander, was the opposite; Off. 1.30.109itemque in sermōnibus alium , quamvīs praepotēns sit, efficere, ut ūnus dē multīs esse videātur;and likewise that in conversation another man, however powerful he may be, manages to seem just one of many; Off. 1.30.109quod in Catulō, et in patre et in fīliō, itemque in Q. Mūciō ° Manciā vīdimus.this we saw in Catulus, both the father and the son, and also in Quintus Mucius Mancia. Off. 1.30.109Audīvī ex maiōribus nātū hoc idem fuisse in P. Scīpiōne Nāsīcā, contrāque patrem eius, illum quī Ti. Gracchī cōnātūs perditōs vindicāvit, nūllam cōmitātem habuisse sermōnis ob eamque rem ipsam magnum et clārum fuisse.I have heard from my elders that this same quality was found in Publius Scipio Nasica, but that his father, on the other hand, the man who punished the reckless designs of Tiberius Gracchus, had no affability in conversation, and for that very reason was great and famous.
Off. 1.30.109Innumerābilēs aliae dissimilitūdinēs sunt nātūrae mōrumque, minimē tamen vituperandōrum.There are countless other differences of nature and character, though by no means deserving of censure.