[86]
And while speaking on this topic you praise Milo, and you praise him deservedly. For what man have we
ever seen of more admirable virtue? a man who, without any expectation of
reward beyond this, which is now thought an old-fashioned and contemptible
thing—namely, the esteem of the good, has voluntarily encountered
every sort of danger, and the most arduous labours, and the most severe
contests, and the most bitter enmities? who appears to me to be the only
citizen who has shown not only by words but by actions what ought to be
done, and what was necessary to be done, in the republic by the leading men;
that such men's duty was to resist the wickedness of audacious men, men who
would overturn the republic, by means of the laws, and of the courts of
justice; but that if the laws were inefficient, if there were no courts of
justice, if the republic was seized and held in subjection by the violence
and conspiracy and armed force of audacious men, then that it was absolutely
necessary for our lives and liberties to be defended by armed guards and by
troops. To think in this way is a sign of prudence; to act in accordance
with such sentiments is a proof of bravery; to think rightly, and to act
bravely at the same time, is a proof of perfect and consummate virtue.
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