Men who before had pleasant manners enough undergo a complete change on attaining power of office.
Cicero: “Men who before had pleasant manners enough undergo a complete change on attaining power of office.”
Editor's note · Context
In his discussion of human nature, Cicero observes how individuals' characters can be transformed by the acquisition of political power.
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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.
What a sorry state of servitude for a virtue--to be pandering to sensual pleasure!
For self-control is the foe of the passions, and the passions are the handmaids of pleasure.
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.





