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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: the friends whom they already possessed, not one man in a hundred ever
gave himself a thought. It was noticeable, in the case of a sickness
befalling a man's friend and one of his own household simultaneously,
the promptness with which the master would fetch the doctor to his
domestic, and take every precaution necessary for his recovery, with
much expenditure of pains; but meanwhile little account would be taken
of the friend in like condition, and if both should die, he will show
signs of deep annoyance at the death of his domestic, which, as he
reflects, is a positive loss to him; but as regards his friend his
position is in no wise materially affected, and thus, though he would
never dream of leaving his other possessions disregarded and ill cared
The Memorabilia |
