Augustus

by John Williams

And it seems to me that the moralist is the most useless and contemptible of creatures. He is useless in that he would expend his energies upon making judgments rather than upon gaining knowledge, for the reason that judgment is easy and knowledge is difficult. He is contemptible in that his judgments reflect a vision of himself which in his ignorance and pride he would impose upon the world. I implore you, do not become a moralist; you will destroy your art and your mind. And it would be a heavy burden for even the deepest friendship to bear.

the feeling that I had that awful evening, when Vergil read to us of Marcellus, remains with me, and shall remain for as long as I live; it was as if suddenly, and for the first time, I truly saw that world in which you must live, and saw the world in which I had lived without seeing for so long. There are other ways and other worlds in which one might live, humbler and more obscure, perhaps—though what is that in the eyes of the indifferent gods?

Ways that are arguably far preferable. It isn't possible to have any significant power without also being a target. It isn't possible to hold the lives of others in our hands without blood on our hands as well. So much of law is concerned with the morals of the person in charge, meaning that power also requires us to force our views onto others, the unintended consequences of which are ours to own.