[59]
18. But in the performance of all these duties1
we shall have to consider what is most needful in
each individual case and what each individual person
can or cannot procure without our help. In this
way we shall find that the claims of social relationship, in its various degrees, are not identical with
the dictates of circumstances; for there are obligations that are due to one individual rather than
to another: for example, one would sooner assist
a neighbour in gathering his harvest than either
[p. 63]
a brother or a friend; but should it be a case in
court, one would defend a kinsman and a friend
rather than a neighbour. Such questions as these
must, therefore, be taken into consideration in every
act of moral duty [and we must acquire the habit
and keep it up], in order to become good calculators
of duty, able by adding and subtracting to strike a
balance correctly and find out just how much is due
to each individual.
1 Duties may vary under varying circumstances.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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