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Books > Maxims > Flashcards

Maxims Flashcards

1
Q

Suspect your passions

A

When they want to appear logical. They are government by self-interest and are dangerous guides.

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2
Q

People hate those to whom

A

They are under obligation. (Question this)

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3
Q

A man condemned to die

A

Often affects a firmness and a scorn of death which are at bottom, his fear of facing it. This stoicism is to his eyes what the bandage is to his eyes.

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4
Q

Our good qualities draw

A

Harsher criticisms than our bad

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5
Q

Had we no faults,

A

We should not take so much pleasure in discovering them in others

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6
Q

Jealousy thrives on…while…

A

Doubt. Certainty goads it to fury, or ends it.

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7
Q

Pride spares

A

Us the painful awareness of our shortcomings

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8
Q

We criticize faults less to

A

Correct them, than to prove that we do not possess them.

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9
Q

Egotism plays many parts, even that

A

Of altruism

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10
Q

Performances are measured by

A

Fear (or lack of it)

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11
Q

Most men are too weak

A

To follow their best judgement

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12
Q

Man thinks he leads…when his head…

A

Even when he is being led. When his head seeks one goal, his heart imperceptibly draws him to another.

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13
Q

True happiness lies in that which

A

Pleases ourselves, not others

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14
Q

Self-satisfied men pride themselves on their misfortunes

A

So they can persuade themselves, and others, that they are worthy to be the butts of fate.

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15
Q

To gain a position in the world

A

We go to any lengths to convince people we have one

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16
Q

However much credit men take for their achievements,

A

Chance is more often responsible than wisdom

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17
Q

A clever man…while a fool..

A

A clever man can benefit from catastrophe, while a fool can turn good luck to his disadvantage

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18
Q

Sincerity is…but…

A

Open-heartedness, but in most, what looks like sincerity is dissimulation practiced to gain the confidence of others

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19
Q

Grace is to the body

A

What reason is to the mind

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20
Q

Judged by its consequences, Love is

A

More akin to hate than to affection

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21
Q

It’s not as hard to find a woman who has never committed an indiscretion

A

As it is to find a woman who has committed only one (it opens the floodgates)

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22
Q

In most men, love of justice

A

Is but a fear of suffering injustice

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23
Q

What we call friendship

A

Is a scheme for the mutual exchange of advantages and favors that improves our self-esteem;

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24
Q

A waning love-affair

A

Welcomes an infidelity as a release (from constancy)

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25
Q

People sacrifice themselves to friends in high places

A

Out of interested motives, and so they may profit

26
Q

Distrust justifies

A

Its deceptions

27
Q

Why expect others to guard our secrets

A

If we cannot keep them ourselves (in the first place).

28
Q

We judge other’s merits

A

Based on how they treat us (and/or how well we like them).

29
Q

Lazy men are..they seek to..

A

The hardest taskmasters. They seek to appear diligent when they have satisfied their own sloth.

30
Q

Old people like to give good advice

A

Because they can no longer set bad examples

31
Q

Grudging praise by the envious

A

Is proof of exceptional merit

32
Q

Judgement is

A

The light of the mind, goes to the root of things, perceives what should be noted

33
Q

No ones hesitates to praise his own heart

A

But one must dare to praise his mind

34
Q

Intellectual politeness

A

Reveals delicacy and purity of thought

35
Q

Intellectual gallantry is the art of saying

A

Flattering things in an agreeable way

36
Q

A spontaneous expression

A

Is often more accurate than the most studied effort

37
Q

Those who know their minds best

A

Know their hearts least (thinkers)

38
Q

Stumbling on wisdom makes

A

No man wise.

39
Q

One type of flirting

A

Is calling attention to our sincerity (“no, I’m serious!”)

40
Q

The mind cannot pretend

A

To be the heart for long

41
Q

We are never as liberal as with

A

Advice

42
Q

We never forget or forgive a friend or foe who betrayed us, yet

A

We never resent it when we betray ourselves

43
Q

A man is never less sincere than when

A

He asks for or gives advice; in asking for counsel, he seeks for his friend to commend his actions; in giving advice, you repay the confidence of others while furthering your own ends through your counsel (in many men)

44
Q

No deception is keener than

A

Feigning cleverly to fall into a trap that was laid for you. People are most often deceived when they seek to deceive others (and the intended deceived becomes the deceiver)

45
Q

A desire not to deceive others

A

Constantly lays us open to deception

46
Q

Deception is often the fruit

A

Of weakness, (or inability to handle or admit the truth), than the intent to deceive

47
Q

((Sometimes people lie to you

A

Because they can’t handle their own truth, or prefer the lie to the truth, because they don’t lie who they are and would spare you that))

48
Q

Often we do right that

A

Later we may do wrong with impunity

49
Q

When we resist temptation it is

A

Often because the temptation is weak (or we are temporarily immunized to it), not because we are strong

50
Q

The cleverest men go through life

A

Decrying trickery, either to be in a position to deceive others in a crisis, or to achieve a great ambition

51
Q

Habitual trickery

A

Is a sign of small intellect

52
Q

Super cleverness is…true…

A

Is indelicate; true delicacy rests on true cleverness

53
Q

The surest way to be deceived

A

Is to think yourself clever than your neighbor or friends or enemy

54
Q

It is easier to preach

A

Virtue than to practice it

55
Q

Our true qualities never make us as

A

Ridiculous as those we affect

56
Q

We prefer to malign

A

Ourselves than to not talk about ourselves at all

57
Q

Even the most charming and clever do little more than appear attentive

A

While in their eyes flash a look of bewilderment when the other talks, so anxious to return to their own ideas. (Listen well: To be bent on pleasing yourself is a poor way of pleasing or convincing others).

58
Q

We boast that we are never lonely only

A

Because we are too vain to admit we find ourselves poor company

59
Q

Powerful intellects say much in few words, while

A

Small minds talk much and say little

60
Q

We emphasize the good qualities of others

A

More because we esteem our own virtues, inviting praise by appearing to praise others

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