1But that elevation of spirit which is seen in dangers and toils, if it is empty of justice and fights not for the common safety but for its own advantage, is a vice; 1for not only is this no mark of virtue, but rather of a savagery that rejects all humanity. 1Thus courage is rightly defined by the Stoics when they say that it is the virtue that fights in defence of fairness. 1Therefore no one who has gained a reputation for courage by treachery and malice has won praise; 1for nothing can be honourable which is empty of justice. 63Splendid, then, is that saying of Plato: 'Not only should knowledge which is divorced from justice be called cunning rather than wisdom,' he says, 'but also a spirit ready to face danger, if it is driven by its own desire and not by the common good, should have the name of recklessness rather than of courage.' 63And so we wish brave and great-souled men to be at the same time good and straightforward, friends of truth and not at all deceitful; 63and these qualities are from the very heart of the praise of justice.
64But this is hateful, that in this elevation and greatness of spirit obstinacy and an excessive desire for pre-eminence very easily spring up. 64For just as we read in Plato that the whole character of the Spartans was inflamed with the desire to win, so the more a man excels in greatness of spirit, the more he wishes to be the first of all, or rather the only one. 64But it is difficult, when you have set your heart on surpassing everyone, to keep that fairness which is most characteristic of justice. 64Hence it comes about that they do not allow themselves to be overcome either by argument or by any public and lawful right, and in the state there generally appear bribers and partisans, so that they may gain the greatest possible power and be superior by force rather than equal by justice.
64But the more difficult it is, the more splendid; 64for there is no occasion which ought to be empty of justice. 65Brave and great-souled, therefore, are to be considered not those who do injury but those who repel it. 65True and wise greatness of spirit judges that the honourable, which nature most pursues, lies in deeds, not in glory, and prefers to be foremost rather than to seem so; 65for he who hangs on the error of the ignorant crowd is not to be counted among great men. 65But the loftier a man's spirit is, the more easily is he driven to unjust acts by the desire for glory; 65and this is a very slippery place indeed, because hardly anyone is found who, having undertaken toils and faced dangers, does not long for glory as a kind of reward for his deeds.