Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

From the Sacchio's Shakespeare Lectures

In Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar most of the characters have a tremendous self-consciousness and refer to themselves mostly in the third person. Professor Peter Sacchio found this off-putting and recalls telling his companion at a performance in London that "the problem with this play is everyone tells Brutus how wonderful he is and he is always agreeing." His friend, a British woman of the prior generation and still imbued with a whiff of British aristocracy, replied somewhat condescendingly, "Peter, you are the son of American democracy....There self-importance is the worst sin on the calendar".

Professor Sacchio said that in hindsight he was 10%....right. He could point to only one place in the play where it seemed Brutus was fatuous. It occurred to him that any other response from Brutus or the other characters would be mock-modesty.