*22* But since, as Plato has admirably expressed it, we are not born for
ourselves alone, but our country claims a share of our being, and our
friends a share; and since, as the Stoics hold, everything that the
earth produces is created for man's use; and as men, too, are born for
the sake of men, that they may be able mutually to help one another; in
this direction we ought to follow Nature as our guide, to contribute to
the general good by an interchange of acts of kindness, by giving and
receiving, and thus by our skill, our industry, and our talents to
cement human society more closely together, man to man.
#Good faith.#
*23* The foundation of justice, moreover, is good faith--that is, truth
and fidelity to promises and agreements. And therefore we may follow the
Stoics, who diligently investigate the etymology of words; and we may
accept their statement that "good faith" is so called because what is
promised is "made good," although some may find this derivation[E]
rather far-fetched.
#Injustice: active and passive.#
There are, on the other hand, two kinds of injustice--the one, on the
part of those who inflict wrong, the other on the part of those who,
when they can, do not shield from wrong those upon whom it is being
inflicted. For he who, under the influence of anger or some other
passion, wrongfully assaults another seems, as it were, to be laying
violent hands upon a comrade; but he who does not prevent or oppose
wrong, if he can, is just as guilty of wrong as if he deserted his
parents or his friends or his country. *24* Then, too, those very wrongs
which people try to inflict on purpose to injure are often the result of
fear: that is, he who premeditates injuring another is afraid that, if
he does not do so, he may himself be made to suffer some hurt. But for
the most part, people are led to wrong-doing in order to secure some
personal end; in this vice, avarice is generally the controlling motive.
[E] Of course, 'good faith' and 'made good' have just as
little etymological connection as _fiat_ and _fidem_.
*25* VIII. Expetuntur autem divitiae cum ad usus vitae necessarios, tum
ad perfruendas voluptates. In quibus autem maior est animus, in iis
pecuniae cupiditas spectat ad opes et ad gratificandi facultatem, ut
nuper M. Crassus negabat ullam satis magnam pecuniam esse ei, qui in re
publica princeps vellet esse, cuius fructibus exercitum alere non
posset. Delectant etiam magnifici apparatus vitaeque cultus cum
elegantia et copia; quibus rebus effectum est, ut infinita pecuniae
cupiditas esset. Nec vero rei familiaris amplificatio nemini nocens
vituperanda est, sed fugienda semper iniuria est.
*26* Maxime autem adducuntur plerique, ut eos iustitiae capiat oblivio,
cum in imperiorum, honorum, gloriae cupiditatem inciderunt.[23] Quod
enim est apud Ennium:
#Fab. inc. (Thyestes?) Vahlen^2, 404#
Núlla sancta sócietas
Néc fides regni ést,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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