Most of the corpus is clever, though not always edifying or wise. A little acquaintance with The Four Loves clears out some confusion he suffers from. It took me quite a while to read through the work, not because I was slow, but because I found the cynicism (especially about love) a bit hard to take. ("63.—The aversion to lying is often a hidden ambition to render our words credible and weighty, and to attach a religious aspect to our conversation." Um. No.)
A few caught my eye.
- 8.—The passions are the only advocates which always persuade. They are a natural art, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without.
- 36.—It would seem that nature, which has so wisely ordered the organs of our body for our happiness, has also given us pride to spare us the mortification of knowing our imperfections.
- 127.—The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others.
- 150.—The desire which urges us to deserve praise strengthens our good qualities, and praise given to wit, valour, and beauty, tends to increase them.
- 152.—If we never flattered ourselves the flattery of others would not hurt us.
- 159.—It is not enough to have great qualities, we should also have the management of them.
- 300.—There are follies as catching as infections.
- 313.—How is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
- 318.—We may find means to cure a fool of his folly, but there are none to set straight a cross-grained spirit.
- 327.—We own to small faults to persuade others that we have not great ones.
- 372.—Most young people think they are natural when they are only boorish and rude.
- 423.—Few know how to be old.
- 432.—To praise good actions heartily is in some measure to take part in them.
- 437.—We should not judge of a man's merit by his great abilities, but by the use he makes of them.
- 439.—We should earnestly desire but few things if we clearly knew what we desired.
- 442.—We try to make a virtue of vices we are loth to correct.
- 462.—The same pride which makes us blame faults from which we believe ourselves free causes us to despise the good qualities we have not.
- 477.—The same firmness that enables us to resist love enables us to make our resistance durable and lasting. So weak persons who are always excited by passions are seldom really possessed of any.
- 481.—Nothing is rarer than true good nature, those who think they have it are generally only pliant or weak.
- 483.—Usually we are more satirical from vanity than malice.
- XXIV.—The most subtle folly grows out of the most subtle wisdom.
- LXXVI.—Many persons wish to be devout; but no one wishes to be humble.
- LXXXII.—It is more easy to extinguish the first desire than to satisfy those which follow.
Some of these are really good: "To praise good actions heartily is in some measure to take part in them." That may sound a hair familiar: "he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward."
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Some contemporary echoes / replies:
423.—Few know how to be old.
Of course I don't know how to act my age; I've never been this old before. (Saw that on a T-shirt, I think.)
442.—We try to make a virtue of vices we are loth to correct.
Reminds me of, "My weaknesses? Well, I'm a perfectionist. I just have to do the job right."
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