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“At least I prefer to write unwisely rather than to be silent unkindly.”

Marcus Aurelius

Source
Correspondence of M. Aurelius Antoninus and M. Cornelius Fronto
Date
2nd century CE
Attribution
Source identified
Meaning

What does this quote mean?

Marcus explains why he risks offering awkward advice to Fronto: preserving kindness and speaking when concern matters can be preferable to staying silent simply to avoid possible embarrassment.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Project Gutenberg #2680, correspondence appendix, Ad M. Caes. ii. 2. Marcus closes a letter about Fronto’s role in the Herodes Atticus dispute with this sentence. It is personal epistolary reasoning inside a specific conflict, not a universal rule to intervene in every disagreement.

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