Musonius Rufus, Lectures 10.9

How much better a figure does the philosopher make so conducting himself as to deem worthy of forgiveness anyone who wrongs him, than to behave as if ready to defend himself with legal procedure and indictments, while in reality he is behaving in an unseemly manner and acting quite contrary to his own teaching.

To be sure he says that a good man can never be wronged by a bad man; but nevertheless, he draws up an indictment as having been wronged by bad men, while claiming to be accounted a good man himself.

A thoughtful fellow I once knew suggested that I could get a good sense of what most people cared for by what they were willing to pay for it.

It wasn’t the noble speeches of the politicians, or the sentimental soundbites in the advertising, or the impassioned stories in the media that told us all about the world’s priorities: in which direction was the cash flowing?

I remember rolling my eyes, asking if this meant that medicine and law were what we all wanted the most.

“Exactly! People want to live forever, and people want to get back at the other people who rub them the wrong way.”

I may not have shared his intense social outrage about it all, but he made a good point. There I was, earning less than minimum wage for my time as a teacher, in all of my salaried glory, and my classmates who had gone to law school were charging for every minute they thought about a case while sitting on the can.

And how we enjoy going to court. We have a disagreement, and we get stubborn, and so we file a lawsuit.

We look down with disgust at the fellow who made a critically bad choice at exactly the wrong time, and we wish for the state to lock him up for life, or maybe even kill him, while we wave signs of our own hatred outside of his prison.

I know full well that I must pay for my mistakes, in all sorts of ways; I am doing so right now, and I will do so for as long as I live.

If I can recognize that within myself, why would I still insist on hurting those who have hurt me? Is justice about my own lust for satisfaction, or might it be about offering others a chance for redemption?

Love, mercy, and forgiveness are deeply wonderful things, because they look to the good of the whole, not just to the profit of one part. They are not outside of justice, but they are rather what perfects all of justice.

It will be pointless, however, if I only speak such fine words from my mouth, while my hands are busy writing a check for my lawyer.

If I really believe that the content of character is the goal, then I will not waste my time with the pursuit of vengeance.

If I am really committed to the Socratic principle that no better man can be harmed by any worse man, then I will learn to not take offense where there is no offense, to reach out a hand instead of a fist.

Written in 10/1999

IMAGE: William Hogarth, The Bench (1758)