Now in regard to trades and other means of livelihood, which ones are to be considered becoming to a gentleman and which ones are vulgar, we have been taught, in general, as follows. First, those means of livelihood are rejected as undesirable which incur people's ill-will, as those of tax-gatherers and usurers. Unbecoming to a gentleman, too, and vulgar are the means of livelihood of all hired workmen whom we pay for mere manual labour, not for artistic skill; for in their case the very wage they receive is a pledge of their slavery.

Let flattery, the handmaid of the vices, be far removed .

Hatreds not vowed and concealed are to be feared more than those openly declared.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.

If you pursue good with labor, the labor passes away but the good remains; if you pursue evil with pleasure, the pleasure passes away and the evil remains.

He is rich who wishes no more than he has.

The multitude of fools is a protection to the wise.