1And in prosperity too, when things flow according to our wishes, let us strenuously avoid pride, disdain and arrogance. 1For to bear prosperity immoderately, as well as adversity, is the mark of a shallow man, and admirable is an even temper throughout life, always the same expression and the same brow, as we have heard of Socrates and likewise of Gaius Laelius. 1Philip, king of the Macedonians, I observe, though surpassed by his son in achievements and glory, was his superior in affability and humanity; 1and so the one was always great, the other often most disgraceful; 1so that those who advise that the higher we stand, the more humbly we should conduct ourselves, seem to give right counsel.
1Panaetius says that Africanus, his pupil and friend, used to say: 'just as men hand over to trainers horses that have grown wild and spirited from frequent clashes of battle, so that they may find them more manageable to use, so men who are unbridled by prosperity and overconfident in themselves ought to be led, as it were, into the training ring of reason and learning, so that they may see clearly the frailty of human affairs and the fickleness of fortune.' 91And also in the greatest prosperity we should make the fullest use of the advice of friends, and grant them even more authority than before. 91And at such times we must take care not to open our ears to flatterers or allow ourselves to be fawned upon, for in this it is easy to be deceived; 91for we think we are such as to deserve praise by right; 91from this arise countless errors, when men puffed up with conceit are shamefully mocked and are caught up in the greatest mistakes.
91But enough of this. 92This, however, is how one should judge: that the greatest affairs, and those calling for the greatest spirit, are conducted by those who govern states, because their administration extends most widely and concerns the greatest number; 92but that there are, and have been, many men of great spirit in a life of leisure too, who either investigated or attempted some great things and kept themselves within the bounds of their own affairs, or, placed midway between philosophers and those who govern the state, took pleasure in managing their own property, not indeed heaping it up by every means, nor shutting their own people out from its use, but rather sharing it with their friends and with the state, whenever there was need.
92This property should first be well acquired, by no gain either shameful or hateful; then it should be increased by good sense, diligence and thrift; then it should make itself useful to as many as possible, provided they are worthy, and should obey liberality and beneficence rather than lust and luxury. 92One who keeps these rules may live magnificently, with dignity and with spirit, and also simply, faithfully, as a true friend of mankind.