“What can console me in my family, my library, my gardens, my farms, and even on my ancestral island if Rome dies without a word from me? There is active evil, such as supporting evil men and traitors. And there is the passive evil, speaking not when a man should speak. This is the worst—that good men do nothing or become tired or hopeless. It is notable that wicked men have boundless energy and enthusiasm, as if they draw sustenance and vile new spirit from some dark, Plutonian underground.”
