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[70]
And this course every
man should adopt and imitate, so that if he is endowed
with any superiority in virtue, intellect, or fortune
he may impart it to his relatives and share it with
his next of kin; or if, for example, his parents are
of a lowly station and his relatives are less favoured
in mind or estate than himself, he may increase
the means of the one and be the source of honour
and influence to the other; as in legends, men who
have for a long time lived the life of menials, because
[p. 181]
their lineage and family were unknown, although
discovered and found to be the sons of gods or of
kings, nevertheless retain affection for the shepherds
whom for many years they regarded as their parents.
And surely such a feeling ought to be much stronger
in the case of real and undoubted parents. For the
fruit of genius, of virtue, and, indeed, of every excellence, imparts its sweetest flavour when bestowed
on those who are nearest and dearest to us.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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