Cicero - we should become doctors to our selves

A first century AD bust of Cicero in the Capitoline Museums, Rome
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office 63 BC – 63 BC Serving with Gaius Antonius Hybrida
Preceded by	Lucius Julius Caesar and Gaius Marcius Figulus
Succeeded by	Decimus Junius Silanus and Lucius Licinius Murena
Personal details
Born	3 January 106 BC Arpinum, Roman Republic (modern-day Arpino, Lazio, Italy)
Died	7 December 43 BC (aged 63) Formia, Roman Republic
Nationality	Roman
Political party	Optimate
Occupation	Politician, lawyer, orator, philosopher and poet

Cicero
Subject	Politics, law, philosophy, rhetoric
Literary movement	Golden Age Latin
Notable works	Orations: In Verrem, In Catilinam I-IV, Philippicae Philosophy: De Oratore, De Re Publica, De Legibus, De Finibus, De Natura Deorum, De Officiis

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Cicero succinctly expresses the medical analogy on which Hellenistic philosophy pivots:
There is I assure you, a medical art for the soul. It is philosophy, whose aid need not be sought, as in bodily diseases, from outside ourselves. We must endeavour with all of our resources and all our strength to become capable of doctoring ourselves
Once it emerges from the shadows of Christianity, he argues, the Hellenistic tradition can be rightfully seen as a rich vein of philosophical therapy.
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