“Which
does the most good, he who decides between foreigners and citizens as praetor
peregrinus, or, as praetor urbanus, pronounces sentence to the suitors in his
court at his assistant's dictation, or he who shows them what is meant by
justice, filial feeling, endurance, courage, contempt of death and knowledge of
the gods, and how much a man is helped by a good conscience?
“If
then you transfer to philosophy the time that you take away from the public
service, you will not be a deserter or have refused to perform your proper
task.”
We may no longer have a list of
praetors, high magistrates holding different powers in the running of the Roman
state, but we have our own modern web of officials, all of them with equally formal
titles, all of them with equally impressive job descriptions. Everywhere we
will see a hierarchy of positions, and the assumption will be that those higher
up in the chain are doing the more important things. Their pronouncements are observed
by more people, their judgments are thought to affect us more deeply, and their
authority is therefore given far more reverence.
Indeed, some will be gifted with the
skill of leadership, and some will be thrust into the public eye by the whims
of fortune. That in any society there must be people in such places, and that
there are certainly those who do such work with excellence, will be a part of
the way things unfold.
Yet I still wonder, why do we think
of them as being somehow greater, or better, or nobler?
A senator, or a judge, or a general
may possess the deepest virtues, but how is this different from the deepest
virtues of a farmer, or a plumber, or an office clerk? The politician may give
his speeches from granite steps, yet there were also the men who built those steps
he stands on. Is one any more because I can see him, and are the others any
less because I cannot see them?
I might say that those in power
simply do more in scale, that their actions have more force, because they make
their mark the world around them more profoundly; is their greatness in the
scope of their impact?
That would be true if I measured
human worth by a control over circumstances, but the Stoic will consider the
measure of human worth rather differently. We do well by the content of the
character inside of us, not by a dominance over the conditions outside of us.
Fame is drawn to appearances, while Nature is satisfied by righteousness. The
quality of virtue is greater than the quantity of possessions.
I can seek comfort in knowing that I
can always do good, both for myself and for others, regardless of where I find
myself, or who sees me as being one thing or another. To whatever degree I might
have influence over things around me, I always retain power over myself: a
public office will only be as worthy as the private conscience behind it.
Let me first be ruled by philosophy,
rightly understood, as the discipline that distinguishes between true and
false, between right and wrong. It is greater, better, and nobler to live with
wisdom and virtue than to hold any office or position.
Written in 6/2011
No comments:
Post a Comment