[83]
We must, of course, never be guilty of seeming1
cowardly and craven in our avoidance of danger; but
we must also beware of exposing ourselves to danger
needlessly. Nothing can be more foolhardy than
that. Accordingly, in encountering danger we
should do as doctors do in their practice: in light
cases of illness they give mild treatment; in cases of
dangerous sickness they are compelled to apply
hazardous and even desperate remedies. It is, therefore, only a madman who, in a calm, would pray
[p. 85]
for a storm; a wise man's way is, when the storm
does come, to withstand it with all the means at his
command, and especially, when the advantages to
be expected in case of a successful issue are greater
than the hazards of the struggle.
The dangers attending great affairs of state fall2
sometimes upon those who undertake them, sometimes upon the state. In carrying out such enterprises, some run the risk of losing their lives, others
their reputation and the good-will of their fellow-citizens. It is our duty, then, to be more ready to
endanger our own than the public welfare and to
hazard honour and glory more readily than other
advantages.3
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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