51. Testing and Trusting Men

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.