All who consult on doubtful matters, should be void of hatred, friendship, anger, and pity.

Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), a Roman historian and former politician of the late Republic, frames this maxim as advice about deliberation in moments of uncertainty. In his monograph on the Catilinarian conspiracy (63 BCE), Sallust frequently contrasts sound public counsel with the factional passions—personal enmity, favoritism, and emotional agitation—that he believed were corrupting Roman political life. The line appears in a moralizing, programmatic passage where he sets out what good judgment requires, especially for those advising the state amid crisis. It reflects Sallust’s broader theme that Rome’s decline was driven less by ignorance than by moral failure and partisan self-interest.

The saying argues that clear judgment in “doubtful matters” depends on emotional and personal neutrality. Hatred and friendship represent partisan bias; anger and pity represent impulsive emotional sway. Sallust’s point is not that advisers should be inhuman, but that public reasoning must not be captured by private loyalties or momentary feelings. The quote also implies a civic ethic: in situations where facts are uncertain and stakes are high, the safest guide is disciplined impartiality. In Sallust’s historiography, this becomes a critique of Roman politics, where decisions were too often driven by faction, revenge, or sentimental appeals rather than the common good.