66.
[138]
Those who defend these institutions with all their might are the best men, of
whatever rank they are; and they who chiefly support all these offices and
the republic on their necks as it were, are accounted the chiefs of the
party of the best men,—the chief advisers and preservers of the
state. I confess that there are, as I have said before, many adversaries and
enemies to, and enviers of, this class of men, that there are many dangers
in their path, that many injuries are heaped upon them, that many labours
have necessarily to be experienced and undergone by them. But all my speech
is addressed to virtue, and not to sloth; to dignity, and not to luxury; to
those men who look upon themselves as born for their country, for their
fellow-citizens, for praise, for glory, not for sleep, for banquets, and
soft delights. For if there be any men who are influenced wholly by
pleasures, and who have given themselves entirely up to the seductions of
vices and to the gratification of their desires, let them abandon all desire
for honours; let them abstain from meddling with the republic; let them be
satisfied with enjoying their ease, and owing it to the labour of virtuous
and brave men.
[139]
But they who desire the good report of
good men, which is the only thing which is really entitled to be called
glory, ought to seek ease and pleasures for others and not for themselves.
They must toil for the common advantage; they must incur enmities, and often
encounter tempests, for the sake of the republic; they must combat with many
audacious and wicked men,—sometimes even with men of
great influence. This is what we have heard of the sentiments and actions of
the most illustrious men; this is what tradition reports of them, and what
we have read nor do we ever see those men loaded with praise who from time
to time have stirred up the minds of men to sedition or who by bribery have
corrupted the rich nations of the ignorant or who have brought brave and
illustrious men, who have deserved well of the republic into odium and
unpopularity. Our countrymen have always thought such men as those
contemptible and audacious and wicked and mischievous citizens. But they who
have checked the violence and the attempts of those men, they who by their
authority, by their integrity, by their firmness and by their magnanimity
have resisted the designs of audacious men, have been at all times
considered wise and good men, the chiefs, and leaders and advisers of this
order of this dignified body, and of the empire.
This text is part of:
Search the Perseus Catalog for:
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.