Virtue index · Cardinal virtue
Prudence
Practical wisdom: seeing what is truly good in a particular situation and choosing the right means to it.
Definitions from the tradition
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics VI.5: Practical wisdom (phronesis) is a true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man; it is concerned with particulars and is learned by experience.
Cicero, De Officiis I.15-19: The first part of the honorable is the perception and search for truth; Cicero warns against taking the unknown for the known and against spending effort on obscure and needless matters.
Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 47: Prudence is right reason applied to action. It belongs to counsel, judgment, and above all to command; it guides all the moral virtues by setting the mean for them.
Scripture, Proverbs 14:15 (KJV): “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going”
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version as given in the library’s text. Other definitions are summarized, not quoted.
Opposing vices
- Imprudence: Rashness, thoughtlessness, and inconstancy in acting.
- Cunning: Cleverness in finding means without regard to whether the end is good.
Works that show prudence (312)
The OdysseyHomerOdysseus survives by counsel and patience, from the trick of Noman to waiting disguised in his own hall. Opposing vice: Imprudence.c. 8th century BCETheogony and Works and DaysHesiodEpimetheus forgets his brother's warning and accepts Pandora, understanding only when the evil is already his. Opposing vice: Imprudence.c. 700 BCThe Homeric HymnsAnonymous (Homeric)Aphrodite refuses to seek for Anchises the deathless life that ruined Tithonus. Opposing vice: Imprudence.7th–6th century BCAesop's FablesAesopMany fables punish rashness and reward foresight and restraint. Opposing vice: Imprudence.c. 6th century BCE (Townsend trans. 1867)The Art of WarSun TzuSun Tzu prizes knowing the enemy and oneself and winning without fighting.c. 5th century BCEPericles' Funeral OrationPericlesPericles praises the Athenian union of daring with deliberation and the habit of discussion before action.delivered 431 BC; recorded by Thucydides c. 431-400 BCThe History of the Peloponnesian WarThucydidesPericles’ cautious war strategy and Diodotus’ counsel at Mytilene show deliberation under pressure. Opposing vice: Imprudence.c. 431–411 BCEMenoPlatoSocrates refuses to judge how virtue is acquired until he knows what it is, and separates knowledge from lucky true opinion.c. 385 BCEThe Persian ExpeditionXenophonXenophon wakes in the night, asks why he is lying idle, and organizes the retreat with practical sense.c. 370 BCEStatesmanPlatoThe Stranger's ideal ruler is defined by practical knowledge that fits action to each changing case, like a physician revising his prescriptions.c. 360 BCPosterior Analytics and PhysicsAristotleAristotle insists that each science keep to its own principles and that the inquirer advance from what is clearer to us toward what is clearer by nature.4th century BCELawsPlatoThe Athenian accepts a second-best city in Book V because a wise lawgiver must legislate for real people and not only for an ideal.c. 348 BCThe Nicomachean EthicsAristotleBook VI gives the classical account of practical wisdom.c. 340 BCEPoeticsAristotleAristotle counsels the poet in Chapter XVII to sketch the general plan and visualize each scene before filling in episodes.c. 335 BCEThe Athenian ConstitutionAristotle (attributed)Athenian institutions in Parts 63–69 use allotment, timing and secret ballots to guard the courts against bribery.c. 330 BCElements, Book IEuclidEach proof cites the exact postulate, axiom or earlier proposition it relies on, refusing to take any step on mere appearance.c. 300 BCEThe ArgonauticaApollonius of RhodesThe heroes follow Phineus' counsel and release a dove to test the Clashing Rocks before risking the ship. Opposing vice: Imprudence.3rd century BCThe Histories, Book VIPolybiusLycurgus foresees the decay of simple constitutions and balances kings, elders and people at Sparta (ch. 10).c. 150 BCFirst Oration Against CatilineMarcus Tullius CiceroCicero chooses to drive Catiline out rather than execute him, reasoning in sections 30-32 that exile will expose the whole conspiracy while a single death would hide it.63 BCThe Republic and The LawsMarcus Tullius CiceroScipio's preference for a mixed constitution rests on a practical study of how each simple form has decayed in history.c. 54-51 BCOn Duties (De Officiis)Marcus Tullius CiceroThe hard cases of Book III, such as the Rhodian corn sale, train judgment in telling real advantage from apparent.44 BCCatiline's War and The Jugurthine WarSallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus)Micipsa on his deathbed tells his sons that a kingdom is kept by faithful friends won through good offices, not by armies or treasure.c. 42-40 BCThe Library (Bibliotheca)Apollodorus (attributed)Oedipus saves Thebes by reasoning out the Sphinx's riddle after many have died failing to answer it.1st–2nd century ADThe HistoriesTacitusVespasian weighs the eastern armies, Mucianus's advice and the state of Italy before accepting the proclamation, and Tacitus contrasts him with rash rivals.c. AD 100-110Discourses (selection) and EncheiridionEpictetusThe student is taught to test each appearance by asking whether it concerns what is or is not in his power.c. 108 CEAlmagestClaudius PtolemyHe shows that eccentric and epicycle models can be equivalent and chooses between them by simplicity rather than claiming more than the evidence allows.c. 150 CEThe Roman HistoryAmmianus MarcellinusValens's refusal to wait for Gratian's army before attacking at Adrianople shows by contrast what prudent command would have required.c. 390 CEThe Institutes of JustinianJustinian I (Tribonian and commissioners)The lex Aquilia cases in Book IV, Title 3 teach how to judge fault by weighing warning, place, skill and care in each particular situation.533 CEHistory of the Wars, Books I-II (The Persian War)Procopius of CaesareaOrigenes advises the rebel senators to act deliberately rather than stake everything on one assault, though the crowd ignores him.c. 550 CEThe Secret HistoryProcopius of CaesareaThe work's own existence, hidden for fear of the emperor, invites students to weigh what prudence requires of a writer under an autocrat.c. 550 CECædmon's HymnCædmonHild does not accept the dream on Cædmon's word but has her learned men test it with a fresh passage of Scripture before receiving him.c. 658-680Ecclesiastical History of the English PeopleBedeEdwin weighs the new faith for years and consults his council before receiving baptism.731A Treatise on the Smallpox and MeaslesAbu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes)In Chapter XIV he teaches the physician to read signs of danger and to scarify a threatened limb only if the patient's strength allows.c. 910The Poetic EddaAnonymous (Old Norse)Hovamol counsels the guest to look about him warily before entering a strange hall and to speak little and listen well.c. 800–1100 (MS c. 1270)The Canon of Medicine, Book IIbn Sina (Avicenna)Part 4 tells the physician to leave a disease of unknown nature to nature rather than hasten treatment, and to fit each remedy to the organ and the stage of illness.c. 1025ChronographiaMichael PsellosPsellos negotiates as an envoy in the rebel camp in 1057, seeking terms that will avoid a war between the army and the capital.c. 1078Deliverance from Error (The Confessions of al-Ghazali)Abu Hamid al-GhazaliLike a skilled coin-assayer, he separates the true parts of philosophy from the false instead of accepting or rejecting it whole.c. 1100The Song of RolandAnonymousOliver urges Roland to sound the horn in time, and Roland’s refusal shows courage without counsel. Opposing vice: Rashness.c. 1100The AlexiadAnna KomneneAlexios secures the Crusade leaders' oaths and recovers Nicaea through negotiation with its garrison rather than by storm.c. 1148Magna CartaKing John and the barons of EnglandThe barons and Langton build practical safeguards such as the forty days' notice of clause 14 and the council of twenty-five in clause 61.1215The Prose EddaSnorri SturlusonOdin gives an eye in pledge at Mimir's well for a drink of its wisdom, valuing understanding above his own body.c. 1220The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga)Anonymous (Old Norse)Brynhild counsels Sigurd on Hindfell to bear and forbear with his kin, shun quarrels with fools and beware strong drink.13th centurySumma TheologicaThomas AquinasAquinas’ ordered method of objection, authority, response, and reply models careful judgment.1265-1274The Travels of Marco PoloMarco Polo (with Rustichello da Pisa)Marco learns the languages and customs of the court and brings back careful reports from his missions that win the Kaan's trust.c. 1298–1300The MabinogionAnonymous (Middle Welsh)Manawyddan leaves each English town rather than fight the jealous craftsmen, and wins back Dyved by a patient bargain over a captured mouse.11th-14th century (manuscripts c. 1350-1410)The MuqaddimahIbn KhaldunThe Introduction teaches the historian to weigh each report against what is possible in society before accepting it, rather than repeating sources uncritically.1377The Canterbury TalesGeoffrey ChaucerTheseus counsels making a virtue of necessity and governs the lovers' quarrel with judgment.c. 1387-1400The PrinceNiccolo MachiavelliMachiavelli treats prudence as the prince’s ability to know and adapt to necessity. Opposing vice: Cunning.1513 (published 1532)UtopiaThomas MoreMore urges that a counsellor should steer the ship in a storm as best he can rather than abandon it.1516 (Latin); English 1551Discourses on the First Decade of Titus LiviusNiccolò MachiavelliBook III, ch. IX, praises Fabius Maximus for a caution that suited the times when Hannibal was in Italy.c. 1517 (published 1531)The Leipzig DisputationMartin Luther, Johann Eck, and Andreas KarlstadtEck prepared his authorities so thoroughly that he could steer the debate on the papacy toward the question of Hus, the point he judged decisive.1519On Free Will (De Libero Arbitrio)Desiderius ErasmusHe narrows the controversy to a single article and weighs texts on both sides before stating a middle position between Pelagius and Luther.1524Gargantua and PantagruelFrançois RabelaisGrangousier sends embassies and restores the stolen cakes many times over before he will fight Picrochole.1532-1564On the Revolutions of the Heavenly SpheresNicolaus CopernicusThe dedication explains that Copernicus withheld his work for many years, weighing the ridicule it might bring, until competent friends urged its publication.1543The Popol Vuh (Lewis Spence's account)Anonymous (K'iche' Maya); Lewis SpenceThe twins send Xan ahead to learn the names of the lords of Xibalba, so they neither bow to the wooden figures nor sit on the red-hot stone. Opposing vice: Imprudence.c. 1554-1558; Spence 1908Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (Preface and Book I)Richard HookerBook I distinguishes laws that never change from positive laws that may rightly vary with circumstances, so that church order can be judged by reason.1594Romeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareFriar Lawrence's counsel to go wisely and slow in Act 2, Scene 3 names the virtue whose absence drives the tragedy.c. 1595 (published 1597)The Merchant of VeniceWilliam ShakespeareBassanio rejects the gold and silver caskets as outward show and chooses the plain lead, winning Portia.c. 1596-97 (published 1600)EssaysFrancis BaconBacon’s essays give practical counsel for public and private life.1597-1625Henry IV, Part 1William ShakespeareThe king offers the rebels pardon before the battle rather than spill English blood needlessly.c. 1596-97 (published 1598)As You Like ItWilliam ShakespeareRosalind tests Orlando's love under her disguise before she reveals herself and marries him.c. 1599 (First Folio 1623)Julius CaesarWilliam ShakespeareThe play shows the cost of its absence as Brutus spares Antony and lets him speak against Cassius's advice.1599Mark Antony's Funeral Oration ("Friends, Romans, countrymen")William ShakespeareThe speech is a study in the practical wisdom of timing: Antony pauses, withholds the will, and descends to the body only when the crowd is ready.1599HamletWilliam ShakespeareHamlet refuses to act on the Ghost's word alone and tests it with the Mousetrap.c. 1600On the Magnet (De Magnete)William GilbertIn Book I, Chapter XV he warns physicians not to give iron for every disorder of the liver and spleen, distinguishing cases where it helps from those where it hastens death.1600OthelloWilliam ShakespeareOthello's ruin comes from accepting Iago's handkerchief and hearsay as proof without questioning Desdemona or Cassio.c. 1603-04 (published 1622)Galileo: The Starry Messenger, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, and Two New Sciences (First Day)Galileo GalileiIn the Letter he urges, with Augustine, that interpreters avoid binding the faith to natural claims that later evidence might overturn.1610-1638The Mayflower CompactThe Mayflower PilgrimsFacing a landing outside their patent and talk of disorder, the leaders secure a lawful government before anyone goes ashore.1620The Rights of War and Peace (Book I)Hugo GrotiusChapter III separates the right to sovereignty from the manner of holding it, a careful distinction meant to settle disputes about who may make war.1625On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (De Motu Cordis)William HarveyIn Chapter IX he grants his opponents the smallest estimates so that his conclusion cannot be escaped by disputing the numbers.1628AreopagiticaJohn MiltonMilton distinguishes the wise punishment of proved abuses after publication from the futile attempt to prevent every abuse beforehand.1644Lex, RexSamuel RutherfordQuestion XXXI orders the means of defence (supplication first, then flight where possible, force last), following David's conduct toward Saul.1644The Commonwealth of OceanaJames HarringtonThe Council of Legislators studies the orders of Israel, Sparta, Rome and Venice before framing any law for Oceana.1656The Sceptical ChymistRobert BoyleBoyle keeps the useful chemical remedies and experiments while withholding assent from the theories offered to explain them.1661A Theologico-Political TreatiseBaruch SpinozaIn Chapter XX he weighs the dangers of free speech against the greater dangers of suppressing it and sets limits on seditious acts.1670A Letter Concerning TolerationJohn LockeHe argues that dissenting assemblies grow dangerous only through unequal treatment, so equal civil rights are the safer policy.1689Treatise on LightChristiaan HuygensIn the preface he claims for his theory only a high probability, not geometrical certainty, and states the conditions under which it deserves belief.1690OpticksIsaac NewtonNewton refuses to admit objections or conclusions not drawn from experiments and states conclusions only as far as induction warrants, revising them if exceptions appear.1704A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human KnowledgeGeorge BerkeleyIn section 51 Berkeley counsels speaking in the ordinary way about fire and sunrise while thinking precisely, refusing to let a philosophical thesis disrupt common speech.1710Robinson CrusoeDaniel DefoeHe learns to plan stores, tools, and defenses after early folly. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1719Essays, Moral and Political (selection)David HumeOf the Independency of Parliament designs institutions on the cautious assumption that every officeholder will follow his own interest.1741-1752The Spirit of the LawsMontesquieuBook XIX counsels legislators to change by example and manners what cannot wisely be changed by law, fitting each measure to the people.1748The History of Tom Jones, a FoundlingHenry FieldingBy the final chapter Tom has learned the discretion the narrator called a guard to virtue in Book III.1749Commentaries on the Laws of EnglandWilliam BlackstoneBlackstone defends following precedent because accumulated judgments are wiser than any single judge's private opinion.1765-1769Letters from a Farmer in PennsylvaniaJohn DickinsonLetter III sets out an ordered course of resistance, petitions first and force only at the last extremity.1767-1768Give Me Liberty or Give Me DeathPatrick HenryHe judges the future by the lamp of experience and insists on knowing the worst in order to provide for it. Opposing vice: Imprudence.delivered 1775; text published 1817The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Selections)Edward GibbonAugustus, mindful of Caesar's murder, rules through the consent of the Senate and the forms of the republic rather than by open force (Chapter III).1776-1789The Virginia Declaration of RightsGeorge MasonSection V sends lawmakers back to private life at fixed periods so that power will not harden into a separate interest.1776The Wealth of NationsAdam SmithBook II praises the frugal man who saves and invests, and Book V ends by urging Britain to fit its designs to its real circumstances.1776The Articles of ConfederationContinental CongressThe authors guard against concentrated power by keeping all undelegated powers with the states and requiring nine states for war and borrowing.1777 (ratified 1781)The Newburgh AddressGeorge WashingtonWashington forbids the irregular meeting but calls a lawful one of his own, so that the officers' grievance is heard without the anonymous writer's direction.1783Essays on Education in a RepublicBenjamin RushThe Plan weighs the cost of schools against the cost of jails and gallows and fits each subject to the student's future work.1786-1798The Virginia Statute for Religious FreedomThomas JeffersonIt draws a careful line, leaving opinions free while allowing government to act when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order.1777 (enacted 1786)A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of AmericaJohn AdamsAdams studies dozens of governments, ancient and modern, before recommending how the American states should be built.1787-1788The Federalist PapersAlexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John JayPublius designs institutions on a sober view of human nature, as in No. 51.1787-1788Elements of ChemistryAntoine LavoisierLavoisier refuses to claim that his simple substances are truly indivisible, holding them as elements only until experiment shows otherwise.1789The Natural History of SelborneGilbert WhiteWhite weighs every report on swallows in winter and refuses to accept claims no one actually witnessed.1789Hamilton's Reports and Opinion on the BankAlexander HamiltonHe pairs the creation of new debt with a sinking fund so that borrowing is always accompanied by the means of paying it off.1790-1791Love and Freindship and Other Early WorksJane AustenSophia's deathbed warning against swoons, though comic, is a lesson in moderating feeling learned too late.1790 (published 1922)Reflections on the Revolution in FranceEdmund BurkeBurke insists that questions of government, like those of food and medicine, be settled by experience and the art of administering remedies rather than by theory.1790The Burke-Paine Debate on the French RevolutionEdmund Burke and Thomas PaineBurke insists that rights must be weighed by the method of procuring and administering them, not by abstract definition.1790-1791Perpetual PeaceImmanuel KantHe allows some preliminary articles to be carried out gradually and warns the moral politician not to force the conditions of peace before circumstances permit.1795Farewell Address and Selected LettersGeorge WashingtonWashington warns his countrymen against faction and entangling foreign passions.1775-1799The Virginia and Kentucky ResolutionsJames Madison and Thomas JeffersonKentucky's ninth resolution counsels watchfulness over power, binding even trusted rulers with the chains of the Constitution.1798-1799Marbury v. MadisonSupreme Court of the United StatesMarshall affirms Marbury's right while declining to issue a writ the administration was prepared to ignore, protecting the Court's authority in a dangerous political moment.1803Tales from ShakespeareCharles and Mary LambPaulina keeps Hermione hidden for many years until Perdita is found and Leontes has truly repented.1807Fletcher v. PeckSupreme Court of the United StatesJohnson observes that the question of Georgia's title under the Indian claims is better fitted to diplomacy or legislation than to a court, yet decides it on careful technical grounds.1810Sense and SensibilityJane AustenElinor governs her feelings with sense while Marianne gives way to hers. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1811The Swiss Family RobinsonJohann David WyssThe father tests unknown foods, plans for the rainy season and makes repeated careful trips to salvage the wreck.1812EmmaJane AustenRobert Martin's good sense and steady conduct are vindicated over Emma's judgment when Harriet finally accepts him. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1815PersuasionJane AustenThe novel weighs Lady Russell’s cautious advice against constancy and judgment.1817OzymandiasPercy Bysshe ShelleyThe lone and level sands teach the reader to judge earthly power by its endurance, weighing what lasts against what merely impresses.1818McCulloch v. MarylandSupreme Court of the United StatesMarshall frames the Constitution as a framework meant to endure for ages and adapt to crises, leaving Congress practical room to choose its means.1819Ode on a Grecian UrnJohn KeatsThe speaker's questions test the urn's beauty rather than simply accepting it, and his praise turns to clear-eyed sight of its coldness.written 1819; published 1820The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.Washington IrvingIchabod's greed for the Van Tassel farm and his belief in every ghost story leave him easy prey for Brom Bones's trick.1819-1820Philosophy of RightG. W. F. HegelThe Preface asks the philosopher to understand the reason present in actual institutions before presuming to redesign them.1820The Monroe DoctrineJames MonroeMonroe promises to stay out of Europe's wars and to leave existing colonies alone, while keeping the right to act if neutrality toward Spain and the new republics must change.1823Gibbons v. OgdenSupreme Court of the United StatesMarshall decides the case on the narrow ground of conflict with the 1793 act, leaving the harder question of exclusive power for another day.1824Principles of GeologyCharles LyellIn Book I he warns against theories that outrun evidence and asks geologists to test every explanation against causes they can observe.1830-1833Second Reply to HayneDaniel WebsterWebster opens by asking the Senate, like a mariner after a storm, to recover its true course before going further.1830Barron v. BaltimoreSupreme Court of the United StatesMarshall declines to stretch the amendments beyond their evident purpose, reasoning carefully from the structure of Article I rather than from sympathy for Barron's loss.1833UlyssesAlfred, Lord TennysonHe entrusts Ithaca to Telemachus, whose slow prudence suits the patient work of governing.written 1833; published 1842Charles River Bridge v. Warren BridgeSupreme Court of the United StatesTaney looks ahead to the railroads and canals then being built and refuses a rule that would let old franchises halt new improvements.1837The Philosophy of HistoryG. W. F. HegelThe Introduction's survey of original, reflective and philosophical history teaches readers to ask from what standpoint any history is written.1837Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1Michael FaradayIn the Seventh Series he coins new terms chosen not to imply theories he had not proved.1839The Thousand and One Nights (Lane's translation, Volume I)Anonymous; translated by Edward William LaneThe fisherman, given only a choice of deaths, swears the 'Efreet by the Most Great Name to show how he fitted in the bottle and seals him in.1838-1841Essays: First Series (Self-Reliance and Other Essays)Ralph Waldo EmersonThe essay Prudence honours care for health, money and time as the necessary art of daily life.1841My Last DuchessRobert BrowningThe envoy, and the reader with him, must judge from the Duke's own words what kind of man the Count's daughter would be marrying.1842A System of Logic, Book III: Of InductionJohn Stuart MillIn Chapter X Mill warns that recoveries observed after a remedy prove little, and counsels careful comparison and verification before trusting a cure.1843Tales (Selection)Edgar Allan PoeDupin recovers the stolen letter by patient judgment of the Minister's character rather than by force, and leaves a copy so the theft goes unnoticed.1839–1846The RavenEdgar Allan PoeThe speaker's error lies in treating a bird's single learned word as a prophecy, a lesson in judging what deserves to be believed.1845The Tenant of Wildfell HallAnne BrontëHelen's aunt warns her against Huntingdon in Chapter XX, and Helen's disregard of that counsel is the root of her suffering. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1848A Disquisition on GovernmentJohn C. CalhounCalhoun argues that durable government must be built on a realistic account of human self-interest rather than on hopes of disinterested rulers.1849 (published 1851)KalevalaElias Lönnrot (compiler)Väinämöinen wins his contests by knowledge of origins and spells, as when he defeats Joukahainen with song rather than blows.1835; enlarged 1849Speeches on the Compromise of 1850Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel WebsterClay withdrew to his room for weeks to frame a plan that gave each section something, and challenged critics to offer a better one.1850Moby-DickHerman MelvilleStarbuck sees that vengeance on a dumb brute is madness and urges Ahab to turn for home.1851Bleak HouseCharles DickensJohn Jarndyce refuses to build any hopes on the Chancery suit and warns Richard not to.1852–53WaldenHenry David ThoreauHis careful accounting of what shelter, food and clothing truly cost shows a practical wisdom about means and ends that most of his neighbors lacked.1854The Old Regime and the RevolutionAlexis de TocquevilleTocqueville warns that reforms undertaken without free institutions unsettle everything at once, as the provincial assembly changes of 1787 did.1856Dred Scott v. SandfordSupreme Court of the United StatesJustice Nelson would have decided the case on Missouri law alone, leaving the citizenship and territorial questions undecided.1857House Divided SpeechAbraham LincolnLincoln begins by asking where the nation is and whither it is tending, so that judgment about what to do follows clear sight of the facts. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1858Novum Organon RenovatumWilliam WhewellAphorism X places the caution of science in rigorously comparing hypotheses with facts and resolutely rejecting those that fail.1858The Lincoln-Douglas DebatesAbraham Lincoln and Stephen A. DouglasLincoln framed the Freeport question with an eye to the 1860 presidential contest, accepting risk to his Senate chances for a larger end.1858Paul Revere's RideHenry Wadsworth LongfellowThe plan of one lantern for land and two for sea lets the alarm go out whichever route the troops take.written 1860; published 1861Considerations on Representative GovernmentJohn Stuart MillChapter V assigns each task to the body fitted for it, leaving the drafting of laws to skilled commissioners and control to the assembly.1861Incidents in the Life of a Slave GirlHarriet A. JacobsFrom the garret Linda writes letters dated from New York that draw Dr. Flint's search away from her hiding place.1861Apologia Pro Vita SuaJohn Henry NewmanHe spends six years, from 1839 to 1845, testing his doubts about the via media before acting on them.1864Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis CarrollBefore drinking from the DRINK ME bottle in Chapter I, Alice checks whether it is marked poison, remembering the rules she has been taught.1865An Introduction to the Study of Experimental MedicineClaude BernardHe sorts experiments on human beings into forbidden, permitted and obligatory, refusing any that could harm the patient.1865Ex parte MilliganSupreme Court of the United StatesChase's concurrence preserves for Congress a power to meet future emergencies, cautioning against deciding more than Milligan's release required.1866War and PeaceLeo TolstoyKutúzov refuses the generals' pressure to attack the retreating French and waits for the invading army to collapse.1865-1869The MoonstoneWilkie CollinsSergeant Cuff refuses to treat the smear on the painted door as a trifle and follows it to the missing nightgown. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1868Veazie Bank v. FennoSupreme Court of the United StatesChase builds his definition of direct taxes patiently from the Convention, early decisions and seventy years of congressional practice.1869Hepburn v. GriswoldSupreme Court of the United StatesMiller asks judges to weigh the actual financial peril of 1862 before second-guessing the means Congress chose to meet it.1870Legal Tender CasesSupreme Court of the United StatesStrong weighs the consequences of a ruling that would unsettle a decade of debts contracted in greenbacks.1871Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found ThereLewis CarrollAlice keeps asking sensible questions of Humpty Dumpty and the White Queen instead of simply accepting their nonsense.1871 (dated 1872)CarmillaJ. Sheridan Le FanuThe doctor from Gratz, though mocked by his colleague, insists that his letter be read before a clergyman and points the General toward a man who can help.1872Slaughter-House CasesSupreme Court of the United StatesMiller weighs the consequences of a broad reading for the whole federal system before deciding a dispute among New Orleans butchers.1873Far from the Madding CrowdThomas HardyGabriel warns Bathsheba plainly about Troy and about her treatment of Boldwood, even at the cost of his place.1874I Will Fight No More ForeverChief JosephWith the chiefs and elders dead and the camp freezing, he judges that further fighting would only destroy the survivors.1877Reynolds v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court draws on the founders' own words to mark where civil authority over religion begins and ends, rather than defining religion by its own preferences.1879The Adventures of PinocchioCarlo CollodiPinocchio's belief that buried gold coins will grow into a money tree costs him his father's five gold pieces and four months in jail.1881-1883 (Italian; book 1883)Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeRobert Louis StevensonUtterson honours Lanyon's instruction not to open the sealed envelope before Jekyll's death or disappearance, even though curiosity tempts him.1886Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish PeasantryW. B. Yeats (editor)Oonagh in A Legend of Knockmany saves Fin M'Coul from the giant Cucullin by cleverness rather than strength.1888The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan DoyleHolmes refuses to name the meaning of the King's note until he has data, and his patience in the dark vault and the bedroom at Stoke Moran saves lives.1892 (stories 1891-92)Popular Scientific LecturesErnst MachIn the conservation-of-energy lecture he warns that a successful theory like caloric must be re-examined lest it blind us to facts that do not fit.1894Atlanta Exposition AddressBooker T. WashingtonHe measures what can be won before a Southern audience in 1895 and stresses footholds in work and property that can be built on.1895Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.Supreme Court of the United StatesHarlan warns against taking the entire income revenue from the government because one provision failed.1895The Arabian Nights EntertainmentsAndrew Lang (ed.)The old fisherman, threatened with death, asks the genie to prove he fitted in the jar and slams the lid on him.1898The War of the WorldsH. G. WellsThe narrator sees through the artilleryman's boasts on Putney Hill and refuses to waste his strength on a scheme that is all talk.1898Uncle VanyaAnton ChekhovAstroff plants and protects forests for a future he will not see, as he explains in Acts I and III.1898United States v. Wong Kim ArkSupreme Court of the United StatesGray tests the government's theory by its consequences for thousands of children of European immigrants before rejecting it.1898The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank BaumThe Scarecrow plans the tree bridge over the ditch and the raft across the river, showing good sense before he has any brains.1900Just So StoriesRudyard KiplingBalkis quietly turns the Butterfly's boast into a lesson that ends the quarrelling of the queens.1902Science and HypothesisHenri PoincareThe preface refuses both to doubt everything and to believe everything, and sets out to judge each hypothesis by its kind.1902The Hound of the BaskervillesArthur Conan DoyleHolmes refuses to accept the legend or to strike too early, waiting until the night at Merripit House to catch Stapleton in the act.1902 (serialized 1901-02)The Tale of Peter RabbitBeatrix PotterMrs. Rabbit’s warning and the sisters’ blackberry lane show wise caution about McGregor’s garden. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1902Jacobson v. MassachusettsSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court entrusts a disputed question of method to a local board acting in an emergency, while reserving protection against arbitrary or cruel enforcement.1905Lochner v. New YorkSupreme Court of the United StatesHarlan counsels that judges facing honest doubt about a health law should leave the responsibility with the legislature.1905The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of CapitalismMax WeberFranklin's maxims, which Weber quotes in Chapter 2, commend careful reckoning of time, credit and money as signs of a trustworthy character.1905The Aim and Structure of Physical TheoryPierre DuhemWhere logic cannot say which hypothesis a failed experiment condemns, Duhem entrusts the decision to the physicist's trained good sense.1906The Railway ChildrenE. NesbitWhen the landslide falls, the children think quickly of red flags and stop the train in time.1906Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of ThinkingWilliam JamesJames's squirrel story models settling a quarrel by first asking what each side practically means, rather than prolonging an idle dispute.1907SanshirōNatsume SōsekiThe novel shows by its absence what timely, wise decision would have meant, as Sanshirō waits until Mineko is engaged to another.1908Citizenship in a Republic ("The Man in the Arena")Theodore RooseveltHe asks that ideals be realized in practical fashion and that every proposed reform be judged on its merits by hard-headed examination. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1910An Introduction to MathematicsAlfred North WhiteheadWhitehead teaches that well-chosen symbols and habits free the mind for the problems that need real attention.1911Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesWhite seeks a reading of the act that forbids combinations unduly restraining trade without making every ordinary business agreement unlawful.1911The Innocence of Father BrownG. K. ChestertonIn The Blue Cross Brown sees through Flambeau's disguise and quietly posts the sapphire cross to Westminster before walking onto the heath with him.1911The Problems of PhilosophyBertrand RussellRussell accepts the belief in an external world in Chapter II as reasonable while admitting it cannot be strictly proved, a model of measured judgment.1912Theodore Roosevelt: An AutobiographyTheodore RooseveltHe sets aside national forests and fifty-one bird reservations so that natural resources will be kept for future generations.1913The Road Not TakenRobert FrostThe traveler stands long and looks down one road as far as he can before choosing, modeling deliberation even when the future cannot be seen.1915; collected 1916The Thirty-Nine StepsJohn BuchanHannay solves the riddle of the thirty-nine steps by listing what he knows and ruling out harbours and steamers before consulting a coastguard.1915Understood BetsyDorothy Canfield FisherIn the surrey Betsy speaks carefully so that she can tell Aunt Frances the truth without hurting her.1917 (serialized 1916)Schenck v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesHolmes refuses to judge words in the abstract, insisting that their character depends on the time, place and audience in which they are used.1919The Burgess Bird Book for ChildrenThornton W. BurgessIdentification trains careful notice before hasty claims. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1919Webb v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe appeals court, uncertain how to apply a new and contested statute, asked the Supreme Court for guidance instead of guessing.1919Autobiography of Andrew CarnegieAndrew CarnegieHe withdraws from scattered ventures to concentrate on steel, putting his good eggs in one basket and watching it.1920The Mysterious Affair at StylesAgatha ChristiePoirot prevents Alfred Inglethorp's premature arrest, knowing an acquittal would make him safe from any second trial.1920The Second ComingW. B. YeatsThe speaker reads the signs of his time soberly, refusing the easy hope of a comforting revelation and facing the beast he actually sees.written 1919; published 1920The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before AchillesPadraic ColumQueen Arete, who knows no enchantments, counsels Medea to give up witchcraft and never practise against anyone's life.1921Meyer v. NebraskaSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court separates the state's legitimate powers over schools from the one measure that went too far, leaving attendance and English instruction in place.1923The Murder on the LinksAgatha ChristiePoirot refuses to accept the obvious suspect and waits until his reasoning is complete before acting, which saves Jack from wrongful conviction.1923Gitlow v. New YorkSupreme Court of the United StatesSanford argues that a state need not wait for a revolutionary spark to become a conflagration before acting to protect public order.1925Linder v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court asks what each earlier decision actually held before applying its language, refusing to extend broad words to unlike facts.1925Pierce v. Society of SistersSupreme Court of the United StatesMcReynolds preserves the state's real powers over education while drawing a clear limit on them.1925The TrialFranz KafkaK.'s decision to dismiss Huld after watching Block's servility shows him judging rightly that the lawyer's help is worthless.1914-1915 (published 1925)A Farewell to ArmsErnest HemingwayWarned by the barman at Stresa, Frederic plans the night crossing of Lake Maggiore with provisions, the boat and the route to Switzerland.1929Near v. MinnesotaSupreme Court of the United StatesButler urges that states, which know their own conditions, must be free to adopt just measures against abuses of the press.1931Farmer BoyLaura Ingalls WilderAlmanzo spends Father's half-dollar on a young pig that will grow in value instead of on treats at the Fourth of July.1933A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesHughes declines to let the urgency of the Depression override the constitutional allocation of powers.1935Norman v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. (Gold Clause Cases)Supreme Court of the United StatesHughes weighs whether enforcing gold clauses would have thrown debtors and the economy into disorder during a depression.1935The General Theory of Employment, Interest and MoneyJohn Maynard KeynesKeynes asks policymakers in the Concluding Notes to weigh carefully how far the state should guide investment while leaving most economic decisions to private initiative.1936Helvering v. DavisSupreme Court of the United StatesCardozo weighs the practical consequences of leaving pensions to the states alone, including the pressure on any state that acted first.1937NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.Supreme Court of the United StatesHughes weighs the practical facts of an integrated industry rather than relying on abstract categories, while marking a limit to protect the federal structure.1937Experience and EducationJohn DeweyDewey's teacher must judge, from knowledge of both pupil and situation, which experiences will lead toward further growth, as Chapter 3 requires.1938The Sword in the StoneT. H. WhiteMerlyn turns the Wart's grief over Kay's knighthood into a lesson that learning is the remedy for sadness.1938Mike Mulligan and His Steam ShovelVirginia Lee BurtonThe little boy thinks past the argument of the grown-ups and sees that the trapped shovel can become the town hall's furnace.1939Caps for SaleEsphyr SlobodkinaBefore he lies down to sleep, the peddler reaches up to make sure every cap is still in its place on his head.1940Minersville School District v. GobitisSupreme Court of the United StatesFrankfurter weighed the limits of judicial competence and urged that disputes over teaching loyalty be settled by persuasion and elections.1940Their Finest HourWinston ChurchillHe grounds his confidence in a sober count of ships, aircraft, and divisions instead of in rhetoric alone. Opposing vice: Rashness.1940We Shall Fight on the BeachesWinston ChurchillHe warns Parliament that wars are not won by rescues and sets out the real losses before any call to resolve.1940Make Way for DucklingsRobert McCloskeyMrs. Mallard turns down every nesting place where foxes, turtles or bicycles might threaten her ducklings.1941Pearl Harbor Address ("A Date Which Will Live in Infamy")Franklin D. RooseveltHe keeps the speech brief and factual, letting the list of attacks and the evidence of planning carry the case.1941The Boxcar ChildrenGertrude Chandler WarnerJessie plans each meal and makes the children's small store of money last while they live in the boxcar.1924; revised 1942Wickard v. FilburnSupreme Court of the United StatesJackson grounded the decision in stipulated economic facts about wheat markets rather than in abstract categories.1942Homer PriceRobert McCloskeyHomer solves the runaway doughnuts and the lost bracelet together by advertising a reward for finding the bracelet inside a doughnut.1943The Abolition of ManC. S. LewisLecture III asks what wisdom must govern humanity's growing power over nature and over future generations.1943Korematsu v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesMurphy granted the military wide discretion yet asked whether individual loyalty hearings could have separated the few dangerous from the many loyal.1944No Exit and Three Other PlaysJean-Paul SartreHoederer in Dirty Hands weighs the lives that a coalition would save against the purity of the party line.1944-1948Order of the Day, 6 June 1944Dwight D. EisenhowerEisenhower grounds confidence in concrete facts, Allied victories, air power, and production, rather than in bravado.1944What Is Life?Erwin SchrödingerHe narrows a vast question into precise problems of gene size, stability and thermodynamics that could be tested.1944Animal FarmGeorge OrwellThe book shows its absence: the animals' failure to read, remember and question lets Squealer rewrite the commandments one by one. Opposing vice: Imprudence.1945That Hideous StrengthC. S. LewisRansom's company waits for the right moment rather than attacking Belbury by force, and is ready when Merlin wakes.1945The Open Society and Its EnemiesKarl PopperChapter 9 counsels reform by small, testable steps against the most urgent evils rather than by a complete blueprint.1945SEC v. W. J. Howey Co.Supreme Court of the United StatesThe definition is written to adapt to schemes not yet devised, anticipating that promoters will change the form while keeping the substance.1946The PearlJohn SteinbeckJuana sees that the pearl is drawing evil to the family and tries to throw it into the sea before it can destroy them.1947My Father's DragonRuth Stiles GannettAfter overhearing the boars treat his tangerine peels as clues, Elmer saves every peel so as to leave no trail.1948Sweatt v. PainterSupreme Court of the United StatesVinson deliberately decides only what the case requires, leaving the broader question of Plessy for a later day.1950Mere ChristianityC. S. LewisLewis's account of the cardinal virtues insists that Christ asks for a child's heart but a grown-up's head, so practical wisdom is a duty.1952The Bears on Hemlock MountainAlice DalglieshIn the dark he thinks quickly, turns the heavy iron pot over and hides beneath it until help comes.1952The BorrowersMary NortonPod borrows only what the family needs and teaches Arrietty the rule never to be seen, which has kept the Clocks alive while other families vanished.1952The Trojan WarOlivia CoolidgeOdysseus returns to Ithaca in disguise and waits in the swineherd's hut until the moment comes to string his bow.1952Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. SawyerSupreme Court of the United StatesVinson's dissent weighed the lives of soldiers in Korea and the nation's alliances against the formal allocation of powers.1952Philosophical InvestigationsLudwig WittgensteinHe repeatedly tells the reader to look at actual cases, as with games in §66, before generalizing.1953Brown v. Board of Education of TopekaSupreme Court of the United StatesWarren wrote a short opinion that all nine justices could join and set the difficult question of remedy for separate argument.1954Lord of the FliesWilliam GoldingPiggy keeps urging the boys to build shelters, make a list of names and tend the signal fire, the practical steps that would bring rescue.1954Carry On, Mr. BowditchJean Lee LathamIn the Christmas fog Nat brings the Putnam into Salem by careful reckoning of course, speed and soundings instead of waiting or guessing.1955Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early LifeC. S. LewisUnder the Great Knock he learns to examine every claim, the habit that later dismantles his own atheism.1955Through Gates of SplendorElisabeth ElliotBefore landing, the men spend months making gift drops and learning phrases so the first meeting will be peaceful.1957Structural AnthropologyClaude Lévi-StraussIn History and Anthropology he insists that the two disciplines need each other and warns against the speculative evolutionary histories of earlier anthropology.1958My Side of the MountainJean Craighead GeorgeBefore going into the woods Sam studies maps and books on wild food at the Delhi library, and after the smoke nearly overcomes him he cuts a vent.1959Bedtime for FrancesRussell HobanFrances stops at her bedroom door and thinks the noise over before deciding what to do.1960To Kill a MockingbirdHarper LeeHeck Tate judges that dragging the shy Boo Radley into public view for killing Ewell would be a sin, and Scout sees that it would be like shooting a mockingbird.1960Freedom and the LawBruno LeoniLeoni prefers rules tested over generations, like Roman private law, to statutes that can be rewritten at every session.1961Inaugural AddressJohn F. KennedyHe joins sufficient arms to the willingness to negotiate, refusing both weakness and fear.1961Mapp v. OhioSupreme Court of the United StatesHarlan counsels patience and restraint before overruling a recent precedent on a question the parties had hardly argued.1961The Phantom TollboothNorton JusterMilo escapes the Doldrums only by beginning to think, and learns on the Island of Conclusions what hasty judgment costs.1961Baker v. CarrSupreme Court of the United StatesFrankfurter cautions the Court against entering a political conflict without a clear standard for relief.1962Robinson v. CaliforniaSupreme Court of the United StatesWhite counsels the Court against deciding broad constitutional questions when the record permits a narrower reading.1962The Structure of Scientific RevolutionsThomas S. KuhnHe warns against reading past scientists only as forerunners of the present, asking that each be understood in the setting of his own paradigm.1962Abington School District v. SchemppSupreme Court of the United StatesStewart asks for a fuller factual record before the Court decides a question that touches so many schools and families.1963Across Five AprilsIrene HuntTorn between the law and his cousin, Jethro seeks counsel from the highest authority and writes to President Lincoln.1964Griswold v. ConnecticutSupreme Court of the United StatesHarlan argues that judges must be guided by history, tradition and the structure of government rather than by abstract formulas or personal preference.1965Miranda v. ArizonaSupreme Court of the United StatesHarlan and White weigh the practical effects of the new rules on police work and on the public's safety.1966Philosophy of Natural ScienceCarl G. HempelIn Chapter 2 Semmelweis tests and rejects each plausible explanation in turn, including the priest's bell and the delivery position, before acting on the one that survives.1966Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School DistrictSupreme Court of the United StatesBlack urges that schools be allowed to protect the singleness of purpose that learning requires.1969A Theory of JusticeJohn RawlsThe parties in the original position choose principles cautiously, guarding against the worst outcomes in a matter of the highest importance.1971Lemon v. KurtzmanSupreme Court of the United StatesBurger acknowledges that total separation is impossible and asks courts to weigh each relationship between government and religion by its circumstances.1971Watership DownRichard AdamsHazel heeds Fiver's warning and leads the band away from Sandleford and later from Cowslip's warren.1972Wisconsin v. YoderSupreme Court of the United StatesChief Justice Burger limited the holding carefully, warning that courts are not school boards and that few groups could make a comparable showing.1972Roe v. WadeSupreme Court of the United StatesBlackmun begins by naming the convictions and influences that shape opinion on the question before resolving to decide by constitutional measurement.1973San Antonio Independent School District v. RodriguezSupreme Court of the United StatesStewart distinguishes his judgment that a policy is unwise from the narrower question whether it violates the Constitution.1973United States v. NixonSupreme Court of the United StatesRather than strip the Presidency of confidentiality, Burger directed private review in chambers so only admissible material would leave the President's control.1974Owl at HomeArnold LobelAfter Winter freezes his soup and snows up his stairs, Owl learns to tell the rude guest to leave so his home can be warm again.1975Ernst & Ernst v. HochfelderSupreme Court of the United StatesPowell refuses to extend a criminal and civil antifraud statute beyond the conduct its words describe, leaving broader liability to Congress.1976TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc.Supreme Court of the United StatesMarshall weighs the value of disclosure against the cost of overwhelming shareholders, choosing a standard that serves informed judgment.1976Mouse SoupArnold LobelTrapped in the weasel's pot, the mouse thinks of the one thing the weasel lacks and turns stories into his way of escape.1977The Methodology of Scientific Research ProgrammesImre LakatosLakatos argues that scientists should neither abandon a fruitful programme at the first anomaly nor cling to one that has stopped predicting anything new.1978Addington v. TexasSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court chooses a middle standard that protects liberty without making needed care impossible to provide.1979Transamerica Mortgage Advisors, Inc. v. LewisSupreme Court of the United StatesThe majority finds a middle path, preserving the client's power to escape a tainted contract while leaving broader enforcement to the agency Congress designated.1979Aaron v. SECSupreme Court of the United StatesBurger cautions that an injunction is a drastic remedy that should not fall on those who acted in good faith.1980Chiarella v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe majority leaves broader rules about market information to Congress and the Commission rather than announcing them by judicial decision.1980Diamond v. ChakrabartySupreme Court of the United StatesBrennan counsels caution before extending a monopoly into a field of grave public concern without clear legislative direction.1980Youngberg v. RomeoSupreme Court of the United StatesPowell's opinion weighs the resident's liberty against the practical limits of an understaffed institution rather than adopting a rule that ignores either.1982Dirks v. SECSupreme Court of the United StatesPowell seeks a guiding principle that those whose daily work is governed by insider-trading rules can understand and follow.1983Keep the Lights Burning, AbbiePeter and Connie RoopWhen the waves start breaking over the rock, she sees that the family's food depends on the hens and brings them to safety in time.1985Lowe v. SECSupreme Court of the United StatesThe majority resolves the case on the narrowest available ground, leaving a constitutional question undecided.1985Tear Down This Wall (Brandenburg Gate Address)Ronald ReaganHe tests Soviet reform by a concrete deed instead of words, and pairs the challenge with practical proposals for arms reduction and for opening the city.1987Basic Inc. v. LevinsonSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court preserves defendants' ability to rebut the presumption, balancing investors' access to the courts against unfair liability.1988Number the StarsLois LowryMama turns away the officer at the wake by warning of typhus and calmly offering to open the casket herself.1989Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of HealthSupreme Court of the United StatesThe majority treats an irreversible decision as one demanding special caution and clear evidence before it is carried out.1990Reves v. Ernst & YoungSupreme Court of the United StatesThe four-factor test gives courts a measured way to separate investment notes from everyday commercial lending.1990Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. CaseySupreme Court of the United StatesThe joint opinion weighs workability, reliance, doctrinal change and changed facts before deciding whether to depart from Roe.1992United States v. O'HaganSupreme Court of the United StatesThomas insists that a theory of criminal liability state its limits consistently before courts apply it to a defendant.1997Washington v. GlucksbergSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Court leaves a grave moral question to continued democratic deliberation rather than settling it for the whole nation.1997Olmstead v. L. C.Supreme Court of the United StatesKennedy and the plurality warn against moving patients hastily into settings without care, and allow states to plan within their means.1999John AdamsDavid McCulloughIn 1799 he sends a peace mission to France against his party's wishes and avoids a full war.2001Zelman v. Simmons-HarrisSupreme Court of the United StatesBreyer weighs the long-term social consequences of public funding for religious schools in a religiously diverse nation.2002The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the BarbariansPeter HeatherHeather shows how the mishandled reception of the Goths in 376 turned refugees into enemies, a lesson in the cost of imprudent government.2005When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World: The Rise and Fall of Islam's Greatest DynastyHugh KennedyAl-Mansur's careful choice of the site of Baghdad and his management of rivals in Chapter 2 secured the young dynasty.2005The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live InHugh KennedyMany conquering commanders offered negotiated terms that preserved cities and their people rather than fighting every siege to the end.2007District of Columbia v. HellerSupreme Court of the United StatesJustice Breyer urged judges to examine the practical details of each firearm law rather than resolve the case by abstract categories alone.2008The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000Chris WickhamWestern kings, lacking Roman taxes, adapt by rewarding followers with land and building new forms of loyalty to hold their kingdoms together.2009Washington: A LifeRon ChernowAt Newburgh in 1783 he defuses an officers' conspiracy with a personal appeal rather than force.2010National Federation of Independent Business v. SebeliusSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Chief Justice seeks a reading of the statute that respects both the limits on federal power and the choices of the elected branches.2012Rome: An Empire's StoryGreg WoolfAugustus replaces the Republic's opportunistic conquests with a settled system of taxation and loyal armies that keeps the peace for generations.2012Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.Supreme Court of the United StatesThe Court limits its holding carefully, listing method claims, new applications and altered DNA as questions it is not deciding.2013Obergefell v. HodgesSupreme Court of the United StatesJustice Alito argued that federalism allows communities with different convictions to reach different answers and so live together peaceably.2015Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman WorldAdrian GoldsworthyGoldsworthy shows Roman governors and emperors often preferring negotiation backed by reputation to costly campaigns, keeping frontiers quiet by judgment rather than constant war.2016The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an EmpireKyle HarperIn his epilogue Harper turns the Roman story toward foresight, asking how societies can prepare for environmental shocks they cannot prevent.2017Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health OrganizationSupreme Court of the United StatesChief Justice Roberts urges the Court to decide only the question it agreed to hear, choosing the more measured course.2022The New Roman Empire: A History of ByzantiumAnthony KaldellisKaldellis shows emperors such as Alexios I restoring a broken state through diplomacy and careful finance as much as through battle.2023
In Plutarch’s Lives
Solon, Themistocles, Pericles, Quintus Fabius Maximus, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Nicias, Quintus Sertorius, Eumenes of Cardia, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Aratus of Sicyon
Quotations
“A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence”
Frequently cited
“to put all good eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.”
Frequently cited
“Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”
“Their names are What and Where and When And How and Why and Who.”
Frequently cited
“Do after the good and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renown.”
“Strike if you will, but hear”
“that we shall be better and braver and less helpless if we think that we ought to enquire, than we should have been if we indulged in the idle fancy that there was no knowing and no use in seeking to know what we do not know”
“One doesn't contradict a hungry tiger.”
“The first qualification in a general-in-chief is a cool head--that is, a head which receives just impressions, and estimates things and objects at their real value. He must not allow himself to be elated by good news, or depressed by bad”
“Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.”
“instead of looking on discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all.”
“Virtue itself turns vice being misapplied, And vice sometime’s by action dignified.”
“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.”
Frequently cited
“When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course.”
“If my plan of peace, and accommodation, and harmony, is not right, present us your plan.”
Frequently cited
“there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well.”
“East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other.”
Frequently cited
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat”
“War is but noble by the cause, and y' have disgraced it.”
Frequently cited
“What is the use of discussing a man's abstract right to food or medicine? The question is upon the method of procuring and administering them.”
“And though that he was worthy he was wise”
Frequently cited
“Prudence and circumspection are necessary even to the best of men. They are indeed, as it were, a guard to Virtue, without which she can never be safe.”
“He hath also, by reflection on his past follies, acquired a discretion and prudence very uncommon in one of his lively parts.”
Frequently cited
“My dear friend, clear your MIND of cant.”
Frequently cited
“In this and like communities, public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail ; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently he who moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions.”
Frequently cited
“All that glisters is not gold”
Frequently cited
“Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.”
Frequently cited
“Men shall learn wisdom, by affliction schooled”
“Then how doth one know there was poison given at all?”
“the road to the next duty is the only straight one”
Frequently cited
“Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils”
“thou must bear in mind that thou art not as an ordinary errant knight, but that thou art a King, and that thy life belongeth not unto thee, but unto thy people”
“knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge--broad, deep knowledge--is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low.”
Frequently cited
“Be kindly to friend and kin, and reward not their trespasses against thee; bear and forbear, and win for thee thereby long enduring praise of men.”
“The lives of former generations are a lesson to posterity; that a man may review the remarkable events which have happened to others, and be admonished”
“This is a Jinnee, and I am a man; and God hath given me sound reason; therefore, I will now plot his destruction with my art and reason, like as he hath plotted with his cunning and perfidy.”
Frequently cited
“The only safe rule is to promise little, and faithfully to keep every promise; to "speak softly and carry a big stick."”
Frequently cited
“It is easy to become the dupe of a deferred purpose, of the promise the future can never keep”
“What would Cousin Ann do if she were here? She wouldn’t cry. She would THINK of something.”
“you must not, therefore, abandon the commonwealth, for the same reasons as you should not forsake the ship in a storm because you cannot command the winds.”
Discussion questions
- What is the difference between prudence and mere caution?
- Can a person be clever without being prudent? Give an example from your reading.
- Why does Aquinas say the other moral virtues need prudence?
- Where in your own week did you have to choose the right means to a good end?
Other virtues: Justice · Fortitude · Temperance · Faith · Hope · Charity · Piety · Honor · Industry · Humility · Magnanimity · Friendship