(a) He must be warned, when he is in company, to keep his eyes open in all directions; for I find that the highest positions are usually taken possession of by the least capable men, and that greatness of fortune is seldom combined with ability. I have seen, while, at the upper end of the table, they were discussing the beauty of a tapestry or the flavour of the malvoisie, many fine sayings wasted at the other end. He must prove the range of every man: a herdsman, a mason, a wayfarer — he must put them all under contribution, and borrow from each according to his wares, for every thing is of some use in a household; even the folly and weakness of other men will be instructive to him.[1] By observing the graces and manners of each individual, there will be born a longing for good, and contempt for bad, manners. Let his imagination be moved by a decent curiosity to inquire into every thing; he should see every thing that may be about him that is out of the ordinary: a building, a fountain, a man, the site of an old-time battle, a place where Cæsar passed, or Charlemagne.
(b) Quæ tellus sit lenta gelu, que putris ab æstu;
Ventus in Italiam quis bene vela ferat.[2]
(a) Let him investigate the morals, the resources, and the alliances of this prince and of that. These are things very interesting to learn, and very useful to know.
In this study of man I mean to include, and chiefly, those who live only in the memory of books. Let him study by means of histories those great minds of the best ages. It is a profitless study if you will;[3] also, if you will, it is a study of inestimable value, (c) and the only study, as Plato says, which the Lacædemonians for their part considered worth while.[4] (a) What shall he not gain in this direction by
- ↑ Cf. Book III, chap. 8: Tous les jours la sotte contenance d’un autre m’advertit et m’advise.
- ↑ What land is benumbed with cold, what land is crumbling with heat, what fair wind drives the sails toward Italy. — Propertius, IV, 3.39.
- ↑ C’est un vain estude, qui veut; in the editions prior to 1588, there was no punctuation after veut, which was followed by this clause, et qui ne se propose autre fin que le plaisir.
- ↑ See the Hippias Major, at the beginning.
