For beauty is spent by time or withered by disease; wealth ministers to vice rather than
 to nobility of soul, affording means for indolent living and luring the young to pleasure;
 strength, in company with wisdom, is, indeed, an advantage, but without wisdom it harms
 more than it helps its possessors, and while it sets off the bodies of those who cultivate
 it, yet it obscures the care of the soul Cf. Isoc. 4.1 . . But virtue, when it grows up with us in our hearts without alloy, is the one possession
 which abides with us in old age; it is better than riches and more serviceable than high
 birth; it makes possible what is for others impossible; it supports with fortitude that
 which is fearful to the multitude; and it considers sloth a disgrace and toil an honor.
 This it is easy to learn from the labors of Heracles and the exploits of Theseus, whose
 excellence of character has impressed upon their exploits so clear a stamp of glory that
 not even endless time can cast oblivion upon their achievements. Nay, if you will but recall also your father's principles, you will have from your own
 house a noble illustration of what I am telling you. For he did not belittle virtue nor
 pass his life in indolence; on the contrary, he trained his body by toil, and by his
 spirit he withstood dangers. Nor did he love wealth inordinately; but, although he enjoyed
 the good things at his hand as became a mortal, yet he cared for his possessions as if he
 had been immortal Cf. Bacchyl.
 3.78 (Jebb): “As a mortal thou must nourish each of two forebodings;—that
 to-morrow's sunlight will be the last that thou shalt see; or that for fifty years thou
 wilt live out thy life in ample wealth;” and Lucian , Anthol. Pal . x. 26: w(s
 teqhnco/menos tw=n sw=n a)gaqw=n a)po/laue w(s de\ biwso/menos fei/deo sw=n
 ktea/wn . . Neither did he order his existence sordidly, but was a lover of beauty, munificent in his
 manner of life, and generous to his friends; and he prized more those who were devoted to
 him than those who were his kin by blood; for he considered that in the matter of
 companionship nature is a much better guide than convention, character than kinship, and
 freedom of choice than compulsion.