The frequent expressions made to Atticus in opposition to this belief are to be taken as the murmurs of his mind at the moment; as you shall hear a man swear that all is gone, and see him tear his hair, and shall yet know that there is a deep fund of hope within his bosom.

It was the ingratitude of his political friends, his "boni" and his "optimates," of Pompey as their head, which tried him the sorest; but he was always forgiving them, forgiving Pompey as the head of them, because he knew that, were he to be severed from them, then the political world must be closed to him altogether.
Of Cicero's strength or Cicero's weakness Pompey seems to have known nothing.

He was no judge of men.

Caesar measured him with a great approach to accuracy.

Caesar knew him to be the best Roman of his day; one who, if he could be brought over to serve in Caesarean ranks, would be invaluable--because of his honesty, his eloquence, and his capability; but he knew him as one who must be silenced if he were not brought to serve on the Caesarean side.