1Perhaps it should be asked whether this fellowship, which is most in accordance with nature, should always be preferred also to moderation and restraint. 1I think not; 1for there are some things partly so foul, partly so outrageous, that the wise man would not do them even to save his country. 1Posidonius collected a great many of them, but some so revolting, so obscene, that they seem disgraceful even to mention. 1These, then, he will not undertake for the sake of the state, nor will the state wish them to be undertaken on its behalf. 1But the matter stands more conveniently in that no occasion can arise when it would be in the state's interest for the wise man to do any of these things.
160Let this, then, be established, that in choosing duties that kind of duty is pre-eminent which is bound up with human society. 160And so much for this. 160For the topic itself has been laid open, so that it is not difficult, in seeking out duty, to see what should be preferred to what. 160In fellowship itself, however, there are degrees of duty, from which it can be understood what takes precedence for each person: so that the first duties are owed to the immortal gods, the second to our country, the third to our parents, and thereafter by degrees to the rest. 161From these matters, briefly discussed, it can be understood that men are accustomed to hesitate not only over whether a thing is honourable or shameful, but also, when two honourable things are proposed, which is more honourable.
161This topic was, as I said above, passed over by Panaetius. 161But now let us proceed to the rest.