Regard as wise men, not those who dispute subtly about trifling matters, but those who
 speak well on the great issues; Cf. Isoc. 4.188-189 and note. and not those who, being themselves in sorry
 straits, hold forth to others the promise of a prosperous fortune, but those who, while
 making modest claims for themselves, are able to deal with both affairs and men, and are
 not upset by the vicissitudes of existence, but have learned to bear moderately and
 bravely both the good and the evil chances of life. Cf.
 Isoc. 1.42 and note. 
 And do not be surprised that in what I have said there are many things which you know as
 well as I. This is not from inadvertence on my part, for I have realized all along that
 among so great a multitude both of mankind in general and of their rulers there are some
 who have uttered one or another of these precepts, some who have heard them, some who have
 observed other people put them into practice, and some who are carrying them out in their
 own lives. But the truth is that in discourses of this sort we should not seek novelties, for in
 these discourses it is not possible to say what is paradoxical or incredible or outside
 the circle of accepted belief; but, rather, we should regard that man as the most
 accomplished in this field who can collect the greatest number of ideas scattered among
 the thoughts of all the rest and present them in the best form. Moreover, this has been clear to me from the first, that while all men think that those
 compositions, whether in verse or prose, are the most useful which counsel us how to live,
 yet it is certainly not to them that they listen with greatest pleasure; nay, they feel
 about these just as they feel about the people who admonish them; for while they praise
 the latter, they choose for associates Cf. Isoc. 1.45 . those who share in, and not those who would
 dissuade them from, their faults.