He was wrong; for deceit does not remove the guilt of perjury--it merely aggravates it. #The ancient Roman discipline.# His cunning that impudently tried to masquerade as prudence was, therefore, only folly.
From a treatise on moral duties, Cicero condemns a deceptive act as a violation of an oath, arguing that cunning masquerading as prudence is folly.
Share
More from Cicero
For there are men who for fear of giving offence do not dare to express their honest opinion, no matter how excellent.
But while they steer clear of the one kind of injustice, they fall into the other: they are traitors to social life, for they contribute to it none of their interest, none of their effort, none of their means.
There are, on the other hand, two kinds of injustice--the one, on the part of those who inflict wrong, the other on the part of those who, when they can, do not shield from wrong those upon whom it is being inflicted.
But those wars which have glory for their end must be carried on with less bitterness.
Other voices in this conversation
