1But at this point a somewhat difficult question arises: whether new friends, if worthy of friendship, are ever to be preferred to old ones, as we usually prefer young horses to old. 1A doubt unworthy of a human being; 1for there ought not to be a surfeit of friendships, as there is of other things; 1the oldest should be the sweetest, like those wines which bear age well, and true is the saying that many pecks of salt must be eaten together before the duty of friendship is fulfilled. 68New friendships, however, if they hold out hope that fruit will appear, as in plants that do not disappoint, are certainly not to be rejected, yet the old must be kept in their own place; 68for the power of age and habit is very great.
68Indeed, in the case of the horse itself, which I have just mentioned, if nothing prevents it, there is no one who would not more gladly use the one he is used to than one untried and new; 68and habit has force not only in this, which is a living creature, but even in things that are lifeless, since we take delight in the very places, even mountainous and wooded ones, in which we have lingered for a long time. 69But the most important thing in friendship is for the superior to be on a level with the inferior. 69For there are often certain outstanding men, as Scipio was in what I may call our flock.
69He never put himself above Philus, never above Rupilius, never above Mummius, never above friends of a lower rank. 69His brother Quintus Maximus, an excellent man indeed but by no means his equal, he treated as his superior because he was ahead of him in age, and he wished all his relations to be able to rise higher through him. 70This is what all should do and imitate, so that, if they have attained any eminence in virtue, talent or fortune, they should share it with their own people and impart it to those nearest them; 70so that, if they have been born of humble parents, or if they have relatives weaker either in spirit or in fortune, they may increase their resources and be a source of honour and dignity to them.
70As in the stories, those who for a time, through ignorance of their stock and family, have been in servitude, when they are recognised and found to be the sons either of gods or of kings, still keep their affection for the shepherds whom for many years they took to be their fathers. 70And this, surely, should be done much more in the case of true and certain fathers. 70For the fruit of talent and virtue and every kind of excellence is reaped most fully when it is bestowed on all those nearest to us.