PART 12 of 12
- 276. Renew your character with nature and with art.
They say that one's condition changes every seven years : let this change improve and heighten your taste. After the first seven years of life, we reach the age of reason; let a new perfection follow every seven years thereafter. Observe this natural variety and help it along, and expect others to improve also. This is why many changed their behavior or their estate, or their employment, and at times one does not notice until one sees how great the change has been. When you are twenty years old, you will be a peacock; at thirty, a lion; at forty, a camel; at fifty, a serpent; at sixty, a dog; at seventy, a monkey; and at eighty, nothing.
- 277. Display your gifts; show them off.
There is a time for each one. Take advantage; no one can triumph every day. There are gallant people in whom what is little truly shines, and what is much shines bright enough to astonish. When you have both talent and a talent for displaying your gifts, the result is something prodigious. There are nations that know how to dazzle, and Spaniards do it better than anyone else. As soon as the world was created, there was light to show it off. Showing off satisfies, supplies what is missing, and gives everything a second being, even more so when it is grounded in reality. The heavens, which bestow perfection, encourage us to display our gifts. You need skill to do so; even what is most excellent depends on circumstance and isn't always appropriate. Ostentation doesn't work when it is done out of season. Nor should we show off in an affected way, for ostentation borders on vanity, and vanity on scorn. It should be exercised with moderation, so as not to turn into vulgarity, and among wise men, an excessive display of one's gifts is not highly thought of. It often involves a certain silent eloquence, a bit of carelessness. Wise dissimulation is the best way to win praise, for privation awakens curiosity. It takes skill not to reveal all of your perfection at once, but to do so little by little, always adding a little more. Let one glorious occasion spur you on to another greater one, and the applause given to the first heighten expectation for the others.
- 278. Don't call attention to yourself.
When others notice you doing so, your very gifts turn into defects and you will simply be left alone and criticized as an eccentric. Even beauty, if it is excessive, will harm your reputation. When it gives others pause, it is offensive, and disreputable eccentricities have the same effect, only greater. Some wish to be known for their vices, searching for new ways to discredit themselves. Even in matters of the understanding, excess produces pedantry.
- 279. Don't answer those who contradict you.
Find out first whether they're being clever or simply vulgar. It isn't always stubbornness; sometimes it is a trick. So pay attention and don't get caught up in the former or cast down by the latter. No one demands more caution than a spy, and when someone has the skeleton key to minds, counter him by leaving the key of caution inside, on the other side of the keyhole.
- 280. An honorable person.
Good conduct has departed, debts of gratitude now go unpaid, and few people give others the treatment they deserve. In all the world, the greatest services are now the least rewarded. There are entire nations inclined to treat others badly. From some, one fears treason; from others, inconstancy; from still others, deceit. Take notice of the bad behavior of others, not to imitate it but to defend yourself from it. Your own integrity can be ruined by the ruinous behavior of others. But the honorable man does not forget who he is because of what others are.
- 281. Win favor from the intelligent.
The lukewarm "yes" of a truly singular person is worth more than the applause of the rabble. Why be pleased by the burps of the bumpkins? The wise speak with understanding, and their praise brings deathless satisfaction. Judicious Antigonus reduced the whole theater of his fame to Zeno alone,* and Plato took Aristotle for his entire school. Some want only to fill their bellies, even on vulgar fodder. Even sovereigns need people to write about them, and they fear their pens more than the ugly fear the brushes of the portrait painter.
[*Antigonus Gonatas, King of Macedonia, who greatly admired Zeno, founder of Stoic philosophy.]
- 282. Use absence to win respect or esteem.
Presence diminishes fame, absence enlarges it. The absent person who was thought a lion turns into a mouse -- ridiculous offspring of the mountain -- when present. Gifts lose their sheen when they are handled : one sees the outer bark and not the spiritual pith. Imagination travels faster than sight. Deceit comes in through the ears, but usually leaves through the eyes. The person who retires into himself, into the center of his reputation, preserves his good name. Even the Phoenix used absence to preserve its dignity and to turn desire into esteem.
- 283. Be inventive, but sensibly.
Inventiveness reveals extreme intelligence, but who can be so without a touch of madness? Inventive people are ingenious; those who choose wisely, prudent. Inventiveness is also a grace, and very rare, for many are good at choosing, but few at wisely inventing, and these few went first, in excellence and in time. Novelty is flattering, and when successful, it makes what is good shine twice as much. In matters of judgment it is dangerous, for it involves paradox; in matters of intelligence, praiseworthy, and when both sorts are successful, they deserve applause.
- 284. Mind your own business, and you won't be slighted.
Esteem yourself if you want esteem from others. Be stingy with yourself, not prodigal. Go where you're wanted, and you'll be well received. Never come unless you are called, never go unless you are sent. The person who commits himself on his own initiative brings hatred upon himself if he fails, and earns no gratitude when he succeeds. When you butt into things, you're the butt of scorn; if you meddle where you shouldn't, you'll be sent away in confusion.
- 285. Don't perish on account of someone else's bad luck.
Know who is in trouble and expect him to call on you for help and mutual consolation. Misery loves company, and the miserable reach out their arms to those on whom they once turned their backs. Be careful when you try to save someone who is drowning. You can't help him without putting yourself in danger.
- 286. Don't go completely into debt with anyone and everyone.
You will become a common slave. Some were born luckier than others; they can do good while others receive it. Freedom is more precious than the gift that makes us lose it. You should take greater pleasure in having many people depend on you than on depending on one person. The only advantage of having power is that you can do greater good. Above all, when you are given an obligation, don't take it as a favor. Most of the time it is the cleverness of others that has placed you in that position.
- 287. Don't act when moved by passion : you will get everything wrong.
You cannot act for yourself if you are beside yourself, and passion always sends reason into exile. So find a prudent third party, one unmoved by passion. Onlookers always see more than those who are playing. When prudence feels emotion coming on, it is time to beat a hasty retreat. Otherwise, your blood will boil, you will do things bloodily, and a brief outburst will lead to many days of confusion and a loss of reputation.
- 288. Adapt yourself to circumstance.
Governing, reasoning, and everything else must be done at the right moment. Want to do something when you can, for time and opportunity wait for no one. Don't live by generalities, unless it be to act virtuously, and don't ask desire to follow precise laws, for you will have to drink tomorrow from the water you scorn today. Some people are so paradoxically impertinent that they demand that circumstances adapt to their own whims, and help them succeed, rather than the other way around. But the wise know that the polestar of prudence lies in adapting themselves to the occasion.
- 289. A man's worst disgrace: showing he is one.
Others stop seeing him as divine the day they see him very human. Levity is the greatest obstacle to reputation. The retiring person is held to be more than a person, and the light-headed are held to be less. No vice is more degrading, for levity is totally opposed to respectability. A light-headed man can have no substance, even less so when he is old, for age calls for prudence. And though this defect is common, it can lead to singular contempt.
- 290. It is never a good idea to mix appreciation and affection.
To preserve respect, don't be loved too greatly. Love takes more liberties than hatred. Affection and veneration don't mix. Be neither very feared nor very loved. Love leads to familiarity, and casts out esteem. Be loved admiringly rather than affectionately.
- 291. Know how to test others.
Let attentiveness and good judgment penetrate gravity and reserve. It takes great powers of judgment to measure someone else's. It is more important to know the qualities and temperaments of people than those of stones and herbs. This is one of the subtlest things in life. Metals are identified by their sounds, and people by their speech. Words demonstrate integrity, and deeds even more so. Here is where one needs extraordinary care, profound observation and critical power.
- 292. Let your character be superior to the requirements of the job, not vice versa.
No matter how great the post, you must show you are greater. Deep talent grows even deeper, and more obvious, with each pursuit. The person with a narrow mind and heart will be easily caught, and eventually the weight of his duties will crush his reputation. The great Augustus was proud of being a better man than a prince. Here is where one needs a lofty spirit, and well-grounded confidence in oneself.
- 293. Maturity.
It shines in the outer man, but even more in his customs. Material weight gives value to gold, and moral weight gives value to a person. It is the decorum that accompanies one's gifts, causing veneration. Composure is the facade of the soul. It isn't the insensibility and stillness of fools, as silly people think, but a calm sense of authority. It speaks in wise sayings and deals in success. You are as much a true person as you are mature. When you stop behaving like a child and begin to be grave you acquire authority.
- 294. Moderate your opinions.
Everyone forms his ideas according to his own interests, and offers abundant reasons to back them up. In most people, judgment yields to emotion. It often happens that two people meet head-on, and each presumes he is right. But reason is true, and never has two faces. In such encounters, proceed with wisdom and caution. Sometimes take the other side, and cautiously revise your own opinion. Examine your motives from the other's point of view. That way you will neither condemn him, nor justify yourself, so blindly.
- 295. Not a braggart, but a doer.
They are proudest of their deeds who have least reason to be so. They turn everything into mystery, and do it without grace : chameleons of applause, providing bellyfuls of laughter. Vanity was always annoying, but this sort is laughed at. Some people are like beggars of deeds, little ants piling up honor. You should show the least vanity about your greatest gifts. Content yourself with doing : leave saying to others. Give deeds away, don't sell them. And don't rent golden quills so that others can write mud, offending common sense. Try to be heroic rather than merely seem so.
- 296. A man of majestic gifts.
The greatest gifts make the greatest man. One great gift surpasses a mediocre multitude. A certain person wanted all his things to be large, even his ordinary utensils. Great people should strive for great spiritual gifts. In God all is infinite, all immense; and thus in a hero all must be grand and majestic, so that all his actions and even his words can be dressed in transcendent majesty.
- 297. Always behave as though others were watching.
A man who looks after his actions sees that others see him, or will. He knows that walls have ears, and that what is badly done is bursting to become known. Even when he is alone he behaves as though all the world were watching, and knows that all will be revealed. He behaves as though he already had witnesses : those who, when they hear something, will be so later. The person who wanted everyone to see him didn't care when people searched his house while sitting in their own.
- 298. Three things make a marvel,
and are at the acme of true nobility : fertile intelligence, deep powers of judgment, and a pleasant, relevant taste. Imagination is a great gift, but it is greater still to reason well and understand the good. The intelligence should be sharp, not laborious. It should reside in the head, not the backbone. When one is twenty, the will reigns; at thirty, the intelligence; at forty, judgment. There are understandings that throw off light, like the eyes of the lynx, and they reason best in the greatest darkness. There are others who always hit upon what is most relevant. Things occur to them often and well. O happy fertile wit! As for good taste, it seasons one's entire life.
- 299. Leave people hungry.
Leave nectar on their lips. Esteem is measured in desire. As with thirst, it is good to allay it but not to quench it. The good, if little, is twice good. Things fall off sharply the second time around. Bellyfuls of pleasure are dangerous : they cause even the most eternal eminence to be scorned. The one rule for pleasing : whet the appetite, keep people hungry. The impatience of desire will do more than the ennui of enjoyment, and waiting deepens our pleasure.
- 300. In a word, be a saint; that says everything.
Virtue is a chain of all perfections, the center of all happiness. She makes you prudent, discreet, shrewd, sensible, wise, brave, cautious, honest, happy, praiseworthy, true . . . a universal hero. Three things make one blessed : saintliness, wisdom, and prudence. Virtue is the sun of the lesser world, and its hemisphere is a good conscience. It is so lovely that it wins God's grace and that of others. There is nothing as lovable as virtue, nor as hateful as vice. Virtue alone is for real; all else is sham. Talent and greatness depend on virtue, not on fortune. Only virtue is sufficient unto herself. She makes us love the living and remember the dead.
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