Be valiant, but not too venturous. Let thy attire be comely, but not costly.

The couplet offers a Renaissance ideal of moderation: courage tempered by prudence, and outward presentation governed by propriety rather than extravagance. “Valiant” is praised, but “too venturous” suggests rashness—risk taken for display rather than necessity. Likewise, clothing should be “comely” (fitting, decent, socially appropriate) but not “costly,” warning against vanity and the moral or financial dangers of conspicuous consumption. The parallel structure makes the advice feel like a compact code of conduct, aligning personal virtue with self-control and measured self-fashioning—an ethic that would have resonated in Elizabethan culture, where reputation, rank, and sumptuary anxieties often intersected.