90. Holy Susanna, too, when threatened with
the fear of false witness, seeing herself hard pressed on one side by
danger, on the other by disgrace, preferred to avoid disgrace by a
virtuous death rather than to endure and live a shameful life in the
desire to save herself. Sus. v. 23. So while she
fixed her mind on virtue, she also preserved her life. But if she
had preferred what seemed to her to be useful to preserve life, she
would never have gained such great renown, nay, perhaps—and that
would have been not only useless but even dangerous—she might
even not have escaped the penalty for her crime. We note,
therefore, that whatsoever is shameful cannot be useful, nor, again,
can that which is virtuous be useless. For usefulness is ever the
double of virtue, and virtue of usefulness.