vir est namque, ni fallor, totius popularitatis alienus; gratiam non captat omnium sed bonorum, non indiscreta familiaritate vilescens sed examinata sodalitate pretiosus et a bono viratu aemulis suis magis prodesse cupiens quam placere, severis patribus comparandus, qui iuvenum filiorum non tam cogitant vota quam commoda; in adversis constans in dubiis fidus in prosperis modestus, in habitu simplex in sermone communis, in contubernio aequalis in consilio praecellens; amicitias probatas enixe expetit, constanter retinet, perenniter servat; inimicitias indictas honeste exercet, tarde credit, celeriter deponit; maxime ambiendus, quia minime ambitiosus, non studet suscipere sacerdotium, sed mereri.
for he is a man, if I am not mistaken, wholly incapable of self-advertisement. He abhors all hunting for popular favour; he seeks the goodwill, not of all men, but only of the best; he does not make himself cheap by indiscriminate familiarity but enhances his value by carefully choosing his associates, and his upright manliness makes him more anxious to benefit his rivals than to please them, so that he may be compared to those strict fathers who consider the best interests of their young children rather than the satisfaction of their desires. He is constant in times of adversity, faithful in times of uncertainty, moderate in prosperity; simple in dress, genial in converse, an equal among his comrades, pre-eminent as a counsellor; well-proven friendships he strenuously pursues, staunchly maintains, and guards to the end; a quarrel declared against him he conducts honourably, ever slow to credit it and quick to lay it down. A man to be desired in the highest degree because he desires so little for himself, he seeks not to assume the priesthood but to deserve it.
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