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16“You are indeed right,” answered Livia, “and I have some advice to give you,—that is, if you are willing to receive it, and will not censure me because I, though a woman, dare suggest to you something which no one else, even of your most intimate friends, would venture to suggest,—not because they are not aware of it, but because they are not bold enough to speak.”
2“Speak out,” replied Augustus, “whatever it is.”
“I will tell you,” said Livia, “without hesitation, because I have an equal share in your blessings and your ills, and as long as you are safe I also have my part in reigning, whereas if you come to any harm, (which Heaven forbid!), I shall perish with you. 3If it indeed be true that man’s nature persuades some persons to err under any and all conditions, and that there is no way to curb man’s nature when it has once set out upon a course of action, and that even what some men look upon as good conduct (to leave out of consideration the vices of the many) is forthwith an incentive to wrongdoing to very many men (for example, boasting of high birth, pride of wealth, loftiness of honours, arrogance of bravery, conceit of power—all these bring many to grief); 4if it be true that one can not make ignoble that which is noble, or cowardly that which is brave, or prudent that which is foolish (for that is impossible); if, on the other hand, one ought not to curtail the abundance of others or humble their ambitions, when they are guilty of no offence (for that were unjust); if, finally, the policy of defending oneself or even of trying to forestall the attacks of others inevitably leads to vexation and ill repute—if all this is true, come, let us change our policy and spare some of the plotters. 5For it seems to me that far more wrongs are set right by kindness than by harshness. For those who forgive are not only loved by the objects of their clemency, who will therefore even strive to repay the favour, but are also respected and revered by all the rest, who will therefore not readily venture to harm them; 6those, on the other hand, who indulge in inexorable resentment are not only hated by those who have something to fear, but are also disliked by all the rest, and are in consequence even plotted against by them in their desire to avoid meeting with destruction first.
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