II
Prefer one in hand to two in hope; a little certainty is better than a great perhaps. Sooner a servant among the noble than leader among the common; for some of their honour will stick to you, while you must share the contempt of your contemptible followers.
The proud cedar is felled, the lowly bush is untouched; fire rises and dies away, water flows down and for ever. If for what beauty or riches you have, you raise your head above neighbour or brother, you feed hateful envy, and the beggar whom you despise may yet triumph over you. Better enough in freedom than plenty at the table of another.
Love thy children with impartial love; the hope oft errs that you place on the more promising, and all your joy may come from him that you have kept in the background.
BENEDICT OF OXFORD, 1195.
(Trans. Joseph Jacobs.)