[63]
Hence it is the part of wisdom to check the headlong rush of goodwill as we would that of a chariot,
and thereby so manage friendship that we may in
some degree put the dispositions of friends, as we
do those of horses, to a preliminary test. Some men
often give proof in a petty money transaction how
unstable they are; while others, who could not have
been influenced by a trivial sum, are discovered in
one that is large. But if any shall be found who think
it base to prefer money to friendship, where shall we
find those who do not put office, civil and military
rank, high place and power, above friendship, so
that when the former advantages are placed before
them on one side and the latter on the other they
will not much prefer the former? For feeble is the
struggle of human nature against power, and when
men have attained it even by the disregard of friendship they imagine the sin will be forgotten because
[p. 175]
friendship was not disregarded without a weighty
cause.
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