Off. 1.33.1Illud autem maximē rārum genus est eōrum, quī aut excellentī ingeniī magnitūdine aut praeclārā ērudītiōne atque doctrīnā aut utrāque rē ōrnātī spatium etiam dēlīberandī habuērunt, quem potissimum vītae cursum sequī vellent;But that class is most rare of those who, endowed either with outstanding greatness of intellect or with distinguished erudition and learning, or with both, have also had time to deliberate which course of life they would most wish to follow; Off. 1.33.1in quā dēlīberātiōne ad suam cuiusque nātūram cōnsilium est omne revocandum.in this deliberation every decision must be referred back to each man's own nature. Off. 1.33.1Nam cum in omnibus, quae aguntur, ex eō, quō modō quisque nātus est, ut suprā dictum est, quid deceat, exquīrimus, tum in tōtā vītā cōnstituendā multō est eī reī cūra maior adhibenda, ut cōnstāre in perpetuitāte vītae possīmus nōbīsmet ipsīs nec in ūllō officiō claudicāre.For while in all that we do we seek out what is fitting on the basis of how each person was born, as was said above, in planning one's whole life far greater care must be given to this matter, so that we may be consistent with ourselves throughout the whole length of our life and not falter in any duty.
Off. 1.33.120Ad hanc autem ratiōnem quoniam maximam vim nātūra habet, fortūna proximam, utrīusque omnīnō habenda ratiō est in dēligendō genere vītae, sed nātūrae magis;But since in this reckoning nature has the greatest force and fortune the next, account must certainly be taken of both in choosing a kind of life, but more of nature; Off. 1.33.120multō enim et firmior est et cōnstantior, ut fortūna nōn numquam tamquam ipsa mortālis cum immortālī nātūrā pugnāre videātur.for nature is much both firmer and more steadfast, so that fortune sometimes seems, as if itself mortal, to be fighting with immortal nature. Off. 1.33.120Quī igitur ad nātūrae suae nōn vitiōsae genus cōnsilium vīvendī omne contulerit, is cōnstantiam teneat (id enim maximē decet), nisi forte sē intellēxerit errāsse in dēligendō genere vītae.He, then, who has directed his whole plan of living towards the kind of his own nature, provided it is not vicious, should hold to consistency (for this is most fitting), unless perhaps he realises that he has made a mistake in choosing his kind of life. Off. 1.33.120Quod sī acciderit (potest autem accidere), facienda mōrum īnstitūtōrumque mūtātiō est.If that happens (and it can happen), a change of habits and pursuits must be made.
Off. 1.33.120Eam mūtātiōnem sī tempora adiuvābunt, facilius commodiusque faciēmus;If circumstances assist that change, we shall make it more easily and conveniently; Off. 1.33.120sīn minus, sēnsim erit pedetemptimque facienda, ut amīcitiās, quae minus dēlectent et minus probentur, magis decēre cēnsent sapientēs sēnsim dīluere quam repente praecīdere.if not, it must be made gradually and step by step, just as wise men judge it more fitting to loosen gradually friendships that please less and are less approved than to cut them off suddenly. Off. 1.33.121Commūtātō autem genere vītae omnī ratiōne cūrandum est, ut id bonō cōnsiliō fēcisse videāmur.But when our kind of life has been changed, we must take every care to seem to have done this with good reason. Off. 1.33.121Sed quoniam paulō ante dictum est imitandōs esse maiōrēs, prīmum illud exceptum sit, nē vitia sint imitanda, deinde sī nātūra nōn feret, ut quaedam imitārī possit (ut superiōris fīlius Āfricānī, quī hunc Paulō nātum adoptāvit, propter īnfirmitātem valētūdinis nōn tam potuit patris similis esse, quam ille fuerat suī);But since it was said a little earlier that our ancestors should be imitated, let this first be excepted, that their vices are not to be imitated; and next, if nature will not allow someone to imitate certain things (as the son of the elder Africanus, who adopted this Africanus, the son of Paullus, could not, because of weak health, be as like his father as Africanus had been like his own); Off. 1.33.121sī igitur nōn poterit sīve causās dēfēnsitāre sīve populum contiōnibus tenēre sīve bella gerere, illa tamen praestāre dēbēbit, quae erunt in ipsīus potestāte, iūstitiam, fidem, līberālitātem, modestiam, temperantiam, quō minus ab eō id, quod dēsit, requīrātur.if, then, he cannot plead cases, or hold the people with speeches, or wage wars, he will still be obliged to show those qualities which are in his own power: justice, good faith, liberality, modesty, temperance, so that what he lacks may be less missed in him.
Off. 1.33.121Optima autem hērēditās ā patribus trāditur līberīs omnīque patrimōniō praestantior glōria virtūtis rērumque gestārum, cui dēdecorī esse nefās iūdicandum est.The best inheritance, moreover, handed down from fathers to children, and more excellent than any patrimony, is the glory of virtue and of achievements, and to disgrace this must be judged a sin.