This is maxim number Fifty-Six, often translated into English as “Down-look on No-One” and it carries the message that we should all stop ourselves before we think we are better than someone else. If someone has fallen on hard times, we should understand that life is uncertain and it could have been us that had taken such a fall. If we run across someone we should be patient. If we run across someone who is not wealthy, we should help them.
We should be humble and we should be grateful. This not just an admonition to humility, it is instead to recognize the divine presence in all of creation. We all contain the matter of dead stars within us. We are then arrogant fools to mock those we perceive as having less blessings. The wise among us instead choose to enjoy the company of all and build up everyone they meet.
More on the Delphic Maxims.
The Bear Oracle 