defined them happy who are competently furnished with their outward callings,[9] that live temperately and honestly: he would say that cities are the common sewer of wickedness. He affirmed that to be the best family which got not unjustly, kept not unfaithfully, spent not with repentance. "Observe," saith he, "honesty in thy conversation more strictly than an oath. Seal words with silence; silence with opportunity. Never lie, but speak the truth. Fly pleasure, for it brings sorrow. Advise not the people what is most pleasant, but what is best. Make not friends in haste, nor hastily part with them. Learn to obey, and thou wilt know how to command. Be arrogant to none; be mild to those about thee. Converse not with wicked persons. Meditate on serious things. Reverence thy parents. Cherish thy friend. Conform to reason, and in all things take counsel of God." In fine, his two short sentences were these:[10] "Of nothing too much;" and "Know thyself." [5] Plut. Herod. [6] Plut. Laert. [7] According to the Athenian account. [8] Herod. Halic. [9] Stob. Sent. 3. [10] Clem. Alex. Strom. IV. Chilon, another of the wise men of Greece, would say, that it was the perfection of a man, to foresee and prevent mischiefs; that herein good people differ from bad ones, their hopes were firm and assured; that God was the great touchstone, or rule of mankind; that men's tongues ought not to outrun their judgment: that we ought not to flatter great men, lest we exalt them above their merit and station; nor to speak hardly of the helpless. They that would govern a state well, must govern their families well. He would say, that a man ought so to behave himself, that he fall neither into hatred nor disgrace. That that commonwealth is happiest where the people mind the law more than the lawyers. Men should not forget the favours they receive, nor remember those they do. Three things, he said, were difficult, yet necessary to be observed: to keep secrets, forgive injuries, and use time well. "Speak not ill," says he, "of thy neighbour. Go slowly to the feast of thy friends, but swiftly to their troubles. Speak well of the dead. Shun busybodies. Prefer loss before covetous gain. Despise not the miserable. If powerful, behave thyself mildly, that thou mayst be loved rather than feared. Order thy house well: bridle thy anger: grasp not at much: make not haste, neither dote upon anything below. A prince," saith he, "must not take up his time about transitory and mortal things; eternal and immortal are fittest for him." To conclude: he was so just in all his actions, that Laertius tells us, he professed in his old age, that he had never done anything contrary to the conscience of an upright man; only, that of one thing he was doubtful, having given sentence against his friend, according to law, he advised his friend to appeal from him his judge, so to preserve both his friend and the law. Thus true and tender was conscience in heathen Chilon.