Note 136 — XXIV (A I, 19)
Evelyn S. (Evelyn Shirley) Shuckburgh translation
A son must be hard up for something to say for himself if he is always harping on his father's reputation; and so must I, if I have nothing but my consulship. That seems the only point in the quotation. I do not feel that there is any reference to praise of his father in Cicero's own poem. There are two versions of the proverb:
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί
and
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ εὐδαίμονες υἱοί.