Quid sit decUnare ad dextemm uel dnistram
The Peril of Extremes
The ruler is warned against the danger of pursuing virtue with such excess that it becomes a vice.
This is what a ruler is forbidden to do. It follows: 'Do not turn to the right or to the left.'✦ Turning to the right means insisting too vehemently on the virtues themselves. Turning to the right means exceeding the proper measure in the works of virtue, which consist precisely in that measure. In fact, all vehemence is an enemy to salvation, and every excess is a fault; practicing even good things to excess is the worst of all. Hence the pagan says: 'The wise man will earn the name of a madman, and the just man that of an unjust one, if he pursues virtue itself beyond what is enough.' And the philosopher says: 'Beware of what is excessive; because if this very caution abandons moderation, it inadvertently strays from the path of virtue by that very act.' Solomon also says: 'Do not be overly just.'✦
Navigating the Path of Moderation
True justice requires avoiding the extremes of both excessive severity and misplaced leniency.
What good is it, then, if justice, the queen of virtues, is actually harmful because it's taken to an extreme? It's said elsewhere: 'Excessive humility is the greatest part of pride,' and to turn to the left is to wander or deviate from the path of virtue through the jagged cliffs of vice. Likewise, someone turns to the left if they're too quick to punish the faults of those under them; and they twist their path to the right if they're too lenient with those who do wrong out of a misplaced sense of kindness. Both paths are wrong, but the one that veers to the left is more destructive.
Read the original Latin
quod princeps prohibetur. Sequitur: Neque declinet in partem dextram uel sinistram. Ad dextram declinare est uirtutibus ipsis uehementer insistere. Ad dextram declinare est in uirtutis operibus, quae in modo consistit, modum excedere. Omnis uero uehementia salutis inimica est, et excessus omnis in culpa; bonarumque rerum consuetudo nimia pessima est. Vnde ethnicus: Insani sapiens nomen feret, aequus iniqui, ultra quam satis est uirtutem si petat ipsam. Et philosophus: Caue quod est nimium; quia, si haec ipsa cautela modestiam deserit, eo ipso a tramite uirtutis incaute recedit. Salomon quoque: Noli, inquit, esse nimis iustus.
Quid ergo nimium prodest, si regina uirtutum iustitia in sui nimietate obest? Alibi quoque: Nimia humilitas maxima pars superbiae est, Ad sinistram declinare est per abrupta uitiorum a uia uirtutum declinare uel deuiare. Item deflectitur ad sinistram qui in subiectorum culpis nimis pronus est ad uindictam; et ad dexteram gressum torquet qui delinquentibus ex mansuetudine nimis a indulget. Iter autem utnmique deuium est; sed quod ad sinistram uergit pemiciosius est.
Scripture echoes
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study