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It should be the general rule to keep the young away from any association with base men; for they carry away something of their badness. This duty Pythagoras Cf. Athenaeus, x. 77 (p. 452 D); Iamblichus, Protrept. chap. 21 (pp. 131-160); Diogenes Laertius, viii. 1, 17-18; and Plutarch, Life of Numa, chap. 14 (69 C). also has enjoined in the form of allegories which I shall now quote and explain. For they contribute no small influence towards the acquisition of virtue. For example:
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Do not taste of black-tails The name of a fish.; that is, Do not spend your time with men of black character, because of their malevolence.
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Do not step over the beam of a balance; that is, one should give greatest heed to justice and not transgress it.
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Do not sit on a peck measure; as much as to say that we should avoid idleness and have forethought for providing our daily bread.
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Do not give your hand to everybody; instead of, Do not make friends too readily.
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Do not wear a tight ring; means that one should live his life unhampered, and not subject it to any bond.
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Do not poke a fire with steel; Cf. the Moralia 281 A and 354 E, and Life of Numa, chap. 14 (69 C) where Plutarch has with a sword. instead of,
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Do not provoke an angry man. Indeed, it is wrong to do so, and we should yield to men who are in a temper.
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Do not eat your heart; as much as to say, Do not injure your soul by wasting it with worries.
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Abstain from beans; means that a man should keep out of politics, for beans were used in earlier times for voting upon the removal of magistrates from office. A form of recall (ἀποχειροτονία); cf. Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, chap. 61.
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Do not put food into a slop-pail; signifies that it is not fitting to put clever speech into a base mind. For speech is the food of thought, and baseness in men makes it unclean.
