On the Twelve Abuses of the World

Therefore, a man rich in many riches is humble in spirit, and he who has nothing is as if a rich man who is poor in pride of the mind's affection. Therefore, mobile poverty is the humility of the mind, and inept riches are the enormity of the spirits. Therefore, it must be provided by the poor that they understand themselves as they are, and because they are not able to obtain what they desire by things, let them cease to be proud through the tumor of the mind.

The Ninth Degree of Abuse: An Iniquitous King.

The ninth degree of abuse is an iniquitous king who, when it behooved him to be a ruler over the iniquitous, does not guard the dignity of his name in himself. For the name of a king intellectually retains this: that he provide the office of a ruler to all his subjects. But how will he be able to correct others who does not correct his own morals if they are iniquitous? For in the justice of a king the throne is exalted, and in the truth of a king the governments of the peoples are solidified. The justice of a king is truly to oppress no one unjustly through power. Without the acceptance of persons, to judge justly between a man and his neighbor, to be a defender for strangers and orphans and widows. To restrain thefts, to punish adulteries. Not to nourish the impious and actors. To destroy the wicked from the earth. Not to allow parricides and perjurers to live. To defend the churches. To nourish the poor with alms. To appoint the just over the affairs of the kingdom. To have old and wise and sober men as counselors. To defer his anger. To defend the homeland strongly and justly against adversaries. To trust in God in all things. Not to elevate his mind in prosperities. To endure all adverse things patiently. To have the catholic faith in God. Not to allow his sons to act impiously. To insist on prayers at certain hours. Not to taste [food] before the proper hours. "Woe to the land whose king is a child and whose princes eat in the morning." These things provide for the prosperity of the kingdom in the present and lead the king to better, heavenly kingdoms. He, however, who has not dispensed the kingdom according to this law, tolerates many and great adversities from the impious. For this reason, the peace of the peoples is often broken, and offenses are raised up from the kingdom; the fruits of the land diminish, and the services of the peoples are impeded; many and various sorrows infect the prosperity of the kingdom: the death of those dear and of children brings sadness, the incursions of enemies devastate riches on all sides, beasts tear apart the flocks of beasts and sheep, a tempest of the air and disturbed atmospheres prohibit the fertility of the land and the mysteries of the sea, and the strikes of some lightning destroy the crops and the flowers of the trees and the vines.