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On the one hand, they speak of men who play the buffoon and have a talent for mocking and mimicking as “gifted”1—an appellation which should be reserved for men endowed with the highest excellence; while, on the other hand, they think of men who indulge their depraved and criminal instincts and who for small gains acquire a base reputation as “getting the advantage,” instead of applying this term to the most righteous and the most upright, that is, to men who take advantage of the good and not the evil things of life.
1 Cf. Isoc. 7.49.