Note 92 — LIFE OF CRASSUS.
George Long translation
Plutarch is alluding to the fable of the two wallets, which every man carries, one in front with his neighbours' faults in it, and the other behind containing his own. Phædrus (iv. 10, ed. Orelli) has pithily told the apologue:—
Peras imposuit Iuppiter nobis duas: Propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit, Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem. Hac re videre nostra mala non possumus: Alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus. Two wallets Juppiter has placed upon us: Our own faults fill the bag we bear behind, Our neighbour's heavy wallet hangs in front. And so we cannot see our own ill deeds; But if another trips, forthwith we censure.