[65]
So then, not those who do injury but those who1
prevent it are to be considered brave and courageous.
Moreover, true and philosophic greatness of spirit
regards the moral goodness to which Nature most
aspires as consisting in deeds, not in fame, and prefers to be first in reality rather than in name. And
we must approve this view; for he who depends upon
the caprice of the ignorant rabble cannot be numbered among the great. Then, too, the higher a
man's ambition, the more easily he is tempted to
acts of injustice by his desire for fame. We are now,
to be sure, on very slippery ground; for scarcely can
the man be found who has passed through trials and
encountered dangers and does not then wish for
glory as a reward for his achievements.
[p. 69]
1 True greatness of spirit.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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