Off. 1.32.1Ac duābus iīs persōnīs, quās suprā dīxī, tertia adiungitur, quam cāsus aliquī aut tempus impōnit;And to those two characters I spoke of above a third is added, which some chance or circumstance imposes; Off. 1.32.1quarta etiam, quam nōbīsmet ipsī iūdiciō nostrō accommodāmus.and a fourth too, which we fit to ourselves by our own judgement. Off. 1.32.1Nam regna, imperia, nōbilitās, honōrēs, dīvitiae, opēs eaque, quae sunt hīs contrāria, in cāsū sita temporibus gubernantur;For kingdoms, commands, nobility, offices, riches, power, and their opposites depend on chance and are governed by circumstances; Off. 1.32.1ipsī autem gerere quam persōnam velīmus, ā nostrā voluntāte proficīscitur.but what character we ourselves wish to assume proceeds from our own will. Off. 1.32.1Itaque sē aliī ad philosophiam, aliī ad iūs cīvīle, aliī ad ēloquentiam applicant, ipsārumque virtūtum in aliā alius māvult excellere.And so some devote themselves to philosophy, others to civil law, others to eloquence, and among the virtues themselves different men prefer to excel in different ones. Off. 1.32.116Quōrum vērō patrēs aut maiōrēs aliquā glōriā praestitērunt, iī student plērumque eōdem in genere laudis excellere, ut Q. Mūcius P. f.Those, however, whose fathers or ancestors excelled in some kind of glory generally strive to excel in the same field of distinction, as did Quintus Mucius, son of Publius, Off. 1.32.116in iūre cīvīlī, Paulī fīlius Āfricānus in rē mīlitārī.in civil law, and Africanus, son of Paullus, in military affairs.
Off. 1.32.116Quīdam autem ad eās laudēs, quās ā patribus accēpērunt, addunt aliquam suam, ut hic īdem Āfricānus ēloquentiā cumulāvit bellicam glōriam;Some, however, add some distinction of their own to those they have received from their fathers, as this same Africanus crowned his military glory with eloquence; Off. 1.32.116quod idem fēcit Timotheus Conōnis fīlius, quī cum bellī laude nōn īnferior fuisset quam pater, ad eam laudem doctrīnae et ingeniī glōriam adiēcit.and Timotheus, son of Conon, did the same, who, though he had been no less renowned in war than his father, added to that renown the glory of learning and intellect. Off. 1.32.116Fit autem interdum, ut nōn nūllī omissā imitātiōne maiōrum suum quoddam īnstitūtum cōnsequantur, maximēque in eō plērumque ēlabōrant iī, quī magna sibi prōpōnunt obscūrīs ortī maiōribus.It sometimes happens, however, that certain men set aside imitation of their ancestors and pursue some course of their own, and those who set great goals before themselves though born of obscure ancestors generally labour hardest at this. Off. 1.32.117Haec igitur omnia, cum quaerimus, quid deceat, complectī animō et cōgitātiōne dēbēmus;All these things, then, we ought to embrace in mind and thought when we are asking what is fitting; Off. 1.32.117in prīmīs autem cōnstituendum est, quōs nōs et quālēs esse velīmus et in quō genere vītae, quae dēlīberātiō est omnium difficillima.but above all we must settle who and what kind of men we wish to be, and in what kind of life, and this is the most difficult deliberation of all.
Off. 1.32.117Ineunte enim adulēscentiā, cum est maxima imbēcillitās cōnsiliī, tum id sibi quisque genus aetātis dēgendae cōnstituit, quod maximē adamāvit;For at the start of youth, when the weakness of judgement is greatest, then each person fixes on that way of spending his life which he has come to love most; Off. 1.32.117itaque ante implicātur aliquō certō genere cursūque vīvendī, quam potuit, quod optimum esset, iūdicāre.and so he is entangled in some fixed kind and course of living before he has been able to judge what would be best. Off. 1.32.118Nam quodHerculem Prodicus dīcit, ut est apud Xenophontem, cum prīmum pūbēsceret, quod tempus ā nātūrā ad dēligendum, quam quisque viam vīvendī sit ingressūrus, datum est, exīsse in sōlitūdinem atque ibi sedentem diū sēcum multumque dubitāsse, cum duās cerneret viās, ūnam Voluptātis, alteram Virtūtis, utram ingredī melius esset, hoc Herculī "Iovis satū ēditō" potuit fortasse contingere, nōbīs nōn item, quī imitāmur, quōs cuique vīsum est, atque ad eōrum studia īnstitūtaque impellimur;For as for what Prodicus says of Hercules, as it is told in Xenophon, that when he was first growing to manhood, a time which nature has given for choosing which path of life each person is to enter, he went out into a solitary place, and sitting there long and much debated with himself, seeing two paths, one of Pleasure, the other of Virtue, which it was better to take: this could perhaps happen to Hercules, 'sprung from the seed of Jupiter', but not likewise to us, who imitate whomever each of us has fancied, and are driven to their pursuits and ways of life; Off. 1.32.118plērumque autem parentium praeceptīs imbūtī ad eōrum cōnsuētūdinem mōremque dēdūcimur;and for the most part, steeped in our parents' teachings, we are drawn into their habits and customs; Off. 1.32.118aliī multitūdinis iūdiciō feruntur, quaeque maiōrī partī pulcherrima videntur, ea maximē exoptant;others are carried along by the judgement of the crowd, and what seems finest to the majority, that they desire most; Off. 1.32.118nōn nūllī tamen sīve fēlīcitāte quādam sīve bonitāte nātūrae sine parentium disciplīnā rēctam vītae secūtī sunt viam.some, however, whether by some good fortune or by goodness of nature, have followed the right path of life without their parents' guidance.