Cicero: “Death, that is either to be totally disregarded, if it entirely extinguishes the soul, or is even to be desired, if it…”

But for the most part, people are led to wrong-doing in order to secure some personal end; in this vice, avarice is generally the controlling motive.

Such acts of generosity are not to be so highly esteemed as those which are performed with judgment, deliberation, and mature consideration.

But for all cases we have one rule, with which I desire you to be perfectly familiar: that which seems expedient must not be morally wrong; or, if it is morally wrong, it must not seem expedient.

It is, therefore, only a madman who, in a calm, would pray 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…