Labour may be in a bit of a mess, but Cicero (d. 43 bc) has some top tips.
‘Let conscience and scrupulous regard for the right take precedence over the obligations of friendship.’
‘The person who corrupts his audience by words commits a graver crime than the man who does so by bribery. For even a virtuous man could be corrupted by words, but not by a bribe.’
‘People who argue that advantage is one thing and right another are uprooting nature’s fundamental principles. Obviously, we all aim at our own advantage: we find that irresistibly attractive. No one can possibly work against his own interests – indeed no one can refrain from pursuing them to the best of his ability. But seeing that our advantage can be found only in good repute, honour and right, it is to these that priority and primacy must be accorded.’
‘Surely the reputation and glory of being a good man are too precious to be sacrificed in favour of anything at all, however valuable and desirable in appearance. No so-called advantage can possibly compensate for the elimination of your good faith and decency and the destruction of your good name.’
‘Injustice often arises through trickery, that is, through an over subtle and even fraudulent construction of the law. That gave rise to the now familiar saying “More law, less justice”.’
‘Everyone should make a proper estimate of their own ability and show themselves critical judges of their own merits and defects; we should be like actors, who select not the best plays but the ones best suited to their talents.’
‘If the individual appropriates to selfish ends what should be devoted to the common good, all human fellowship will be destroyed.’ ‘The senatorial order must be untainted by impropriety and serve as a model for the rest of the citizens. If we can secure this, we shall have secured everything… it is not so much that our leaders do wrong, though that is a great enough evil in itself, as that they encourage so many imitators… I believe that a state’s character is transformed by the habits and way of life of its leading men.’
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