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27“Soldiers, I desire to have your affection, and still I should not choose on that account to share in your errors. I am fond of you and could wish, as a father might for his children, that you may be safe, be prosperous, and have a good reputation. 2For do not suppose it is the duty of one who loves to acquiesce in things which ought not to be done and for which it is quite inevitable that dangers and ill-repute should fall to the lot of those who do them, but rather to teach them the better way and keep them from the worse, both by admonishing and by correcting them. 3You will recognize that I speak the truth, if you will not estimate advantage with reference to the pleasure of the moment but rather with reference to what is permanently beneficial, and if you will avoid thinking that gratifying your desires is more noble than restraining them. For it is disgraceful to take a momentary gratification of which you must later repent, and it is absurd after conquering the enemy to be overcome yourselves by pleasures.
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