135. It is more easy to be wise for others than for ourselves. 136. The only good copies are those which exhibit the defects of bad originals. 137. We are never so ridiculous from the qualities we have, as from those we affect to have. 138. We are sometimes as different from ourselves as we are from others. 135. "Ita quæso (Dii vostram fidem!) Itane comparatam esse hominum naturam omnium Quam sua! An eo fit quia in re nostrâ aut gaudio TERENCE, Heaut. Act iii. Scene 1, ad fin. 138. "We are all unformed lumps, and of so various a contexture that every moment every piece plays its own game, and there is as much difference betwixt us and ourselves as betwixt us and others. 'Magnam rem puta unum hominem agere."-MONTAIGNE. ii. 1, p. 155. Rousseau (Conf. b. ix.) tells us that he was so much struck with this singularity, that he contemplated writing a work on the subject: "L'on a remarqué que la plupart des 139. Coldness in love is a sure means of being beloved. 140. Men talk little when vanity does not prompt them. 141. We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk of ourselves at all. hommes sont dans les cours de leur vie souvent dissemblables à eux-mêmes, et semblent se transformer en des hommes tout différens. Ce n'étoit pas pour établir une chose aussi connue, que je voulois faire un livre ; j'avois un objet plus neuf, et même plus important, c'étoit de chercher les causes de ces variations et de m'attacher à celles qui dependoient de nous, pour montrer comment elles pouvoient être dirigées par nousmêmes, pour nous rendre meilleurs et plus surs de nous." 139. Among the epigrams of John Owen (pub. 1612) is the following "Rarus amatur amans, ut amere inamabilis esto Omnibus; a nullis vis ut ameris? ama." "The great secrets of being courted are, to shun others, and seem delighted with yourself.”—Bulwer Lytton. "Contemnite amantes Sic hodie veniet si qua negavit heri." PROPERTIUS, Eleg. 2. xiv. 19. 141. "Un homme vain trouve son compte à dire du bien w 142. One thing which makes us find so few people who appear reasonable and agreeable in conversation is, that there is scarcely any one who does not think more of what he is about to say than of answering precisely what is said. to him. The cleverest and most complaisant people content themselves with merely showing an attentive countenance, while we can see in their eyes and minds a wandering from what is said to them, and an impatience to return to what they wish to say; instead of reflecting that it is a bad method of pleasing or persua ding others, to be so studious of pleasing oneself; and that listening well and answering well is one of the greatest perfections that can be attained in conversation. ou du mal de soi; un homme modeste ne parle point de soi."-LA BRUYERE. "Montaigne's vanity led him to talk perpetually of himself, and, as often happens to vain men, he would rather talk of his own failings than of any foreign subject."-HALLAM, Lit. of Europe, vol. ii. p. 170. Ed. 1839. 142. La Bruyère has a fine passage illustrative of this sentiment: "L'esprit de la conversation consiste bien moins à en montrer beaucoup qu'à en faire trouver aux 143. A man of wit would often be embarrassed without the company of fools. 144. We often boast that we are never weary of ourselves. We are such braggarts, that we do not like to allow that we are bad company for ourselves. 145. As it is the characteristic of great wits to convey a great deal in a few words, so, on the contrary, small wits have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing. 146. It is rather by estimation of our own senti autres; celui qui sort de votre entretien content de soi et de son esprit l'est de vous parfaitement. Les hommes n'aiment point à vous admirer, ils veulent plaire; ils cherchent moins à être instruits et même réjouis qu'à être goutés et applaudis, et le plaisir le plus délicat est de faire celui d'autrui."-De la Société. 143. "Wits uniformly exclaim against fools, yet fools are their proper foil, and it is from them alone they can learn what figure themselves make."-SHENSTONE, Men and Manners. ments that we exaggerate the good qualities of others, than by estimation of their merit; and we wish to attract praise for ourselves even when we seem to be praising them. 147. We are not fond of praising, and never praise any one except from interested motives. Praise is a clever, concealed, and delicate flattery, which gratifies in different ways the giver and the receiver. The one takes it as a recompense of his merit, and the other bestows it to display his equity and discernment. 148. We often choose envenomed praises, which, by a reaction, expose faults in those we are praising that we should not dare to discover in any other way. 149. We seldom praise but to be praised. 147. "L'on dit à la cour du bien de quelqu'un pour deux raisons. La première, afin qu'il apprenne que nous disons du bien de lui; la seconde, afin qu'il en dise de nous.”—La BRUYERE, De la Cour. 148. See No. 330, and note. 149. See note on 147. |