The path to greatness is along with others. Intercourse works well: manners and taste are shared, good sense and even talent grow insensibly. Let the impatient man then make a comrade of the sluggish, and so with the other temperaments, so that without any forcing the golden mean is obtained. It is a great art to agree with others. The alternation of contraries beautifies and sustains the world: if it can cause harmony in the physical world, still more can it do so in the moral. Adopt this policy in the choice of friends and defendants; by joining extremes the more effective middle way is found.

与人同行是成为伟人的捷径。交流大有好处：人们可以分享彼此的风格与品味，在不知不觉间，我们的判断力甚至才干都有所增长。让毛躁之人与优柔寡断之人交往，同样，其他气质之人亦应如此。这样，无需苦心费力便能实现中庸。与人调和是一大艺术。相生相反，世界因之美丽，并不停地运转--这种对立既可让物质世界和谐，更能让精神世界融洽。以此原则选择朋友或雇佣仆人，可通融两个极端，找到更有效的中庸之道。