Heracles, admitted to the ranks of the gods and received at Zeus's table, greeted each of the gods with much grace. But when Plutus, the god of wealth, arrived last, Heracles lowered his eyes to the floor and turned away from him. Zeus, surprised at his attitude, asked why, after greeting all the gods so obligingly, he turned his eyes away from Plutus alone. He replied, "If I turn my eyes away from him, it is because in the days when I was among men, I saw him almost always in league with the wicked."
Good fortune cannot make a wicked character virtuous.Moral
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