Jangan pernah bersaing dengan orang yang tidak memiliki sesuatu untuk dikalahkan.
Karena persaingan demikian akan menjadi tidak seimbang. Salah satu yang bersaing melakukan persaingan dengan tanpa beban, karena ia sudah kalah segala-galanya, bahkan rasa malunya. Ia telah menanggalkan segala-galanya, tidak ada lagi yang harus dikalahkan, dan tanpa pikir panjang menampakkan dirinya dengan tak senonoh. Jangan mempertahankan nama baik, ini dapat dihapuskan dalam sekejap untuk yang sepele.
Never compete with someone who has nothing to lose
The struggle will be unequal. One of the contestants enters the fray unencumbered, for he has already lost everything, even his shame. He has cast off everything, has nothing further to lose, and throws himself headlong into all sorts of insolence. Never risk your precious reputation on such a person. It took many years to win it, and it can be lost in a moment, on something far from momentous. One breath of scandal freezes much honorable sweat. The righteous person knows how much is at stake. He knows what can damage his reputation, and, because he commits himself prudently, he proceeds slowly, so that prudence has ample time to retreat. Not even if he triumphs will he win back what he lost by exposing himself to the risk of losing.
(The Art of Worldly Wisdom, 2003: 212)
