Pick that man who passes a four-fold test: how he handles virtue, wealth, pleasure and loss of life.§
Place trust in a man of good family, free from faults, with a modest nature that dreads reproach.§
Even faultless, deeply learned men, when closely examined, are rarely found to be entirely free from ignorance.§
Weigh a man’s merits and weigh his faults, then judge him according to the greater.§
The touchstone that discloses a man’s greatness or smallness is simply this: his deeds.§
Beware of trusting men who have no kin. Unattached to people, they are unashamed of misdeeds.§
When a man employs a know–nothing out of affection, he engages all kinds of foolishness.§
To trust a stranger without investigation invites troubles so endless that even descendants must endure them.§
Without investigation, trust no one. Having investigated, entrust a man with matters for which he is trustworthy.§
To trust a man who has not been tested and to suspect a man who has proven trustworthy lead alike to endless ills.§