"Sensible men spoke variously of his life with praise and censure."

The above quote is from Tacitus, the first century Roman historian, speaking of the funerary celebrations of the emperor Augustus. Tacitus records that some men only praised Augustus for political reasons: they wanted to win Tiberius' favor. But sensible people knew there was both good and evil in the late emperor.

It's too easy to make modern applications. It is a foolish man that cannot see that no political candidate or office-holder is completely good.  This is because no human is completely good. There is no human Messiah, and those saying otherwise tend to have much to gain from our being deceived. Nor is any human or politician completely bad. At least none are created that way. It does nothing to hide our littleness of mind when we can only see the bad in someone, however disagreeable their ideology.  Be sensible.

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