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Full Idea
You gods say that the fault lies in the vices of mankind. But you could have endowed men with reason in a form which would exclude all vice and crime.
Gist of Idea
The gods blame men for having vices, but they could have given us enough reason to avoid them
Source
M. Tullius Cicero (On the Nature of the Gods ('De natura deorum') [c.44 BCE], III.76)
Book Ref
Cicero: 'The Nature of the Gods', ed/tr. McGregor,Horace [Penguin 1972], p.226
| 2658 | The gods blame men for having vices, but they could have given us enough reason to avoid them [Cicero] |
| 19338 | Augustine said evil does not really exist, and evil is a limitation in goodness [Augustine, by Perkins] |
| 5037 | God doesn't decide that Adam will sin, but that sinful Adam's existence is to be preferred [Leibniz] |
| 5050 | Evil serves a greater good, and pain is necessary for higher pleasure [Leibniz] |
| 3956 | People are responsible because they have limited power, though this ultimately derives from God [Berkeley] |
| 1474 | Moral evil may be acceptable to God because it allows free will (even though we don't see why this is necessary) [Plantinga, by PG] |