“The one who does wrong is more wretched than the one who suffers it.”Boethius · Mângâierile filozofiei · 524 · Cartea IV, Proza 4
The one who does evil mutilates himself; the one who suffers it stays whole inside.
Writing from prison while awaiting execution, Boethius turns ordinary moral bookkeeping upside down: the victim looks miserable but remains inwardly intact, while the wrongdoer drifts away from the good that alone makes us happy. Injustice is a disease of character, and the perpetrator inflicts it on himself even when he seems to win. A manager who humiliates subordinates gains compliance but loses the capacity for trust and self-respect.
This passage goes further: if evil is a disease of the soul, then our response to evil can be either a cure or a relapse. Revenge does not merely copy the other person's act; it makes the injured party wound themselves, willingly. Boethius suggests that paying someone back in kind means accepting their verdict on you. A simple example: a friend betrays you by talking behind your back. If you answer by spreading secrets about them, you do not only hurt them; you change your own habit and become someone who talks behind backs. Calm here is not weakness but hygiene: you refuse to be infected. Yet how can one suffer injustice without feeling humiliated? The next passage shows why, in Boethius's view, the victim remains whole.
Why it matters When you have been wronged and are tempted to pay back in kind, the idea reminds you that revenge would lower you to the level of the person who hurt you. It also serves anyone eyeing a dirty victory: the real price is not external but internal.