Among rams and asses and horses, Kyrnos, we look for those <br /> Of noble breeding, and a man wants them to mate <br />From worthy stock. Yet a noble man does not mind marrying <br /> A base woman of base birth if she brings him money in abundance, <br />Nor does a woman shrink from becoming the wife of a base man <br /> With wealth; she prefers a rich husband to a worthy one. <br />Money is what they honor; the noble weds a base man's daughter, <br /> The base a worthy man's: wealth mixes stock. <br />Thus do not be amazed, son of Polypaos, that the citizen's stock <br /> Is growing feeble, for what is noble is being mixed with what is base.<br /><br />Theognis<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fragments-lines-0183-0192/
