And when Sophocles speaks thus,
Sweet is the gain, wherein to lie and cheat
Adds the repute of wit to what we get,
tell him: But we have heard thee say far otherwise,
When the account's cast up, the gain's but poor
Which by a lying tongue augments the store.
And as to what he saith of riches, to wit:—
Wealth, where it minds to go, meets with no stay;
For where it finds not, it can make a way;
Many fair offers doth the poor let go,
And lose his talent because his purse is low;
The fair tongue makes, where wealth can purchase it,
The foul face beautiful, the fool a wit:—
against this the reader may set in opposition divers other sayings of the same author. For example,
From honor poverty doth not debar,
Where poor men virtuous and deserving are.
Whate'er fools think, a man is ne'er the worse
If he be wise, though with an empty purse.
The comfort which he gets who wealth enjoys,
The vexing care by which 'tis kept destroys.
And Menander also somewhere magnifies a voluptuous life, and inflames the minds of vain persons with these amorous strains,
The glorious sun no living thing doth see,
But what's a slave to love as well as we.