Cicero

But if it shall be required of anyone to conduct more frequent prosecutions, let him do it as a service to his country; for it is no disgrace to be often employed in the prosecution of her enemies.

For what is so unnatural as to turn to the ruin and destruction of good men the eloquence bestowed by nature for the safety and protection of our fellow-men?

And yet, while we should never prosecute the innocent, we need not have scruples against undertaking on occasion the defence of a guilty person, provided he be not infamously depraved and wicked.

Then, too, briefs for the defence are most likely to bring glory and popularity to the pleader, and all the more so, if ever it falls to him to lend his aid to one who seems to be oppressed and persecuted by the influence of some one in…

The latter way is the easier, especially for a rich man; but the former is nobler and more dignified and more becoming to a strong and eminent man.

For although both ways alike betray a generous wish to oblige, still in the one case the favour makes a draft upon one's bank account, in the other upon one's personal energy; and the bounty which is drawn from one's material substance…

That liberality, therefore, which consists in personal service and effort is more honourable, has wider application, and can benefit more people.

We must often distribute from our purse to the worthy poor, but we must do so with discretion and moderation.

But what is worse folly than to do the thing you like in such a way that you can no longer do it at all?

And so, when men aim to be kind for the sake of winning good-will, the affection they gain from the objects of their gifts is not so great as the hatred they incur from those whom they despoil.

The justification for gifts of money, therefore, is either necessity or expediency. *59* #The golden mean is best.# And in making them even in such cases, the rule of the golden mean is best.

There is, to be sure, more of present satisfaction in what is handed out, like cash down; nevertheless public improvements win us greater gratitude with posterity.

To conclude, the whole system of public bounties in such extravagant amount is intrinsically wrong; but it may under certain circumstances be necessary to make them; even then they must be proportioned to our ability and regulated by the…

The case of the man who is overwhelmed by misfortune is different from that of the one who is seeking to better his condition, though he suffers from no actual distress. *62* It will be the duty of charity to incline more to the…

Thus even though they to whom property has been wrongfully awarded be more in number than they from whom it has been unjustly taken, they do not for that reason have more influence; for in such matters influence is measured not by numbers…

For there is nothing that upholds a government more powerfully than its credit; and it can have no credit, unless the payment of debts is enforced by law.

Such service calls for great men; it was commonly rendered in the days of our ancestors; if men will perform duties such as these, they will win popularity and glory for themselves and at the same time render eminent service to the state.

But I have learned from philosophers that among evils one ought not only to choose the least, but also to extract even from these any element of good that they may contain.

I have, accordingly, written more in this short time since the downfall of the republic than I did in the course of many years, while the republic stood.

The better and more noble, therefore, the character with which a man is endowed, the more does he prefer the life of service to the life of pleasure.

But if he believes that while such a course should be avoided, the other alternatives are much worse--namely, death, poverty, pain--he is mistaken in thinking that any ills affecting either his person or his property are more serious than…

But an upright man will never for a friend's sake do anything in violation of his country's interests or his oath or his sacred honour, not even if he sits as judge in a friend's case; for he lays aside the rôle of friend when he assumes…

Through a specious appearance of expediency wrong is very often committed in transactions between state and state, as by our own country in the destruction of Corinth.

Still, to debar foreigners from enjoying the advantages of the city is altogether contrary to the laws of humanity.

Moreover, all our thought and mental activity will be devoted either to planning for things that are morally right and that conduce to a good and happy life, or to the pursuits of science and learning.