Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims Part 21

introduction states that the 1665 edition only had 316 maxims. In fact, the two maxims only appeared in the fourth of the first five editions (1674).}

SECOND SUPPLEMENT.

REFLECTIONS, EXTRACTED FROM MS. LETTERS IN THE ROYAL LIBRARY.*

*A La Bibliotheque Du Roi, it is difficult at present (June 1871) to a.s.sign a name to the magnificent collection of books in Paris, the property of the nation.

LXVI.--Interest is the soul of self-love, in as much as when the body deprived of its soul is without sight, feeling or knowledge, without thought or movement, so self-love, riven so to speak from its interest, neither sees, nor hears, nor smells, nor moves; thus it is that the same man who will run over land and sea for his own interest becomes suddenly paralyzed when engaged for that of others; from this arises that sudden dulness and, as it were, death, with which we afflict those to whom we speak of our own matters; from this also their sudden resurrection when in our narrative we relate something concerning them; from this we find in our conversations and business that a man becomes dull or bright just as his own interest is near to him or distant from him. (Letter To Madame De Sable, Ms., Fol. 211.)

LXVII.--Why we cry out so much against maxims which lay bare the heart of man, is because we fear that our own heart shall be laid bare. (Maxim 103, MS., fol. 310.*)

*The reader will recognise in these extracts portions of the Maxims previously given, sometimes the author has carefully polished them; at other times the words are identical. Our numbers will indicate where they are to be found in the foregoing collection.

LXVIII.--Hope and fear are inseparable. (To Madame De Sable, Ms., Fol.

222, MAX. 168.)

LXIX.--It is a common thing to hazard life to escape dishonour; but, when this is done, the actor takes very little pain to make the enterprise succeed in which he is engaged, and certain it is that they who hazard their lives to take a city or to conquer a province are better officers, have more merit, and wider and more useful, views than they who merely expose themselves to vindicate their honour; it is very common to find people of the latter cla.s.s, very rare to find those of the former. (Letter To M. Esprit, Ms., Fol. 173, MAX. 219.)

LXX.--The taste changes, but the will remains the same. (To Madame De Sable, Fol. 223, Max. 252.)

LXXI.--The power which women whom we love have over us is greater than that which we have over ourselves. (To The Same, Ms., Fol. 211, Max.

259)

LXXII.--That which makes us believe so easily that others have defects is that we all so easily believe what we wish. (To The Same, Ms., Fol.

223, Max. 397.)

LXXIII.--I am perfectly aware that good sense and fine wit are tedious to every age, but tastes are not always the same, and what is good at one time will not seem so at another. This makes me think that few persons know how to be old. (To The Same, Fol. 202, Max. 423.)

LXXIV.--G.o.d has permitted, to punish man for his original sin, that he should be so fond of his self-love, that he should be tormented by it in all the actions of his life. (Ms., Fol. 310, Max. 494.)

LXXV.--And so far it seems to me the philosophy of a lacquey can go; I believe that all gaity in that state of life is very doubtful indeed.

(To Madame De Sable, Fol. 161, Max. 504.)

[In the maxim cited the author relates how a footman about to be broken on the wheel danced on the scaffold. He seems to think that in his day the life of such servants was so miserable that their merriment was very doubtful.]

THIRD SUPPLEMENT

[The fifty following Maxims are taken from the Sixth Edition of the Pensees De La Rochefoucauld, published by Claude Barbin, in 1693, more than twelve years after the death of the author (17th May, 1680). The reader will find some repet.i.tions, but also some very valuable maxims.]

LXXVI.--Many persons wish to be devout; but no one wishes to be humble.

LXXVII.--The labour of the body frees us from the pains of the mind, and thus makes the poor happy.

LXXVIII.--True penitential sorrows (mortifications) are those which are not known, vanity renders the others easy enough.

LXXIX.--Humility is the altar upon which G.o.d wishes that we should offer him his sacrifices.

Lx.x.x.--Few things are needed to make a wise man happy; nothing can make a fool content; that is why most men are miserable.

Lx.x.xI.--We trouble ourselves less to become happy, than to make others believe we are so.

Lx.x.xII.--It is more easy to extinguish the first desire than to satisfy those which follow.

Lx.x.xIII.--Wisdom is to the soul what health is to the body.

Lx.x.xIV.--The great ones of the earth can neither command health of body nor repose of mind, and they buy always at too dear a price the good they can acquire.

Lx.x.xV.--Before strongly desiring anything we should examine what happiness he has who possesses it.

Lx.x.xVI.--A true friend is the greatest of all goods, and that of which we think least of acquiring.

Lx.x.xVII.--Lovers do not wish to see the faults of their mistresses until their enchantment is at an end.

Lx.x.xVIII.--Prudence and love are not made for each other; in the ratio that love increases, prudence diminishes.

Lx.x.xIX.--It is sometimes pleasing to a husband to have a jealous wife; he hears her always speaking of the beloved object.

XC.--How much is a woman to be pitied who is at the same time possessed of virtue and love!

XCI.--The wise man finds it better not to enter the encounter than to conquer.

[Somewhat similar to Goldsmith's sage-- "Who quits {a} world where strong temptations try, And since 'tis hard to co{mbat}, learns to fly."]

XCII.--It is more necessary to study men than books.

["The proper study of mankind is man."--Pope {Essay On Man, (1733), Epistle II, line 2}.]

XCIII.--Good and evil ordinarily come to those who have most of one or the other.

XCIV.--The accent and character of one's native country dwells in the mind and heart as on the tongue. (Repit.i.tion Of Maxim 342.)

XCV.--The greater part of men have qualities which, like those of plants, are discovered by chance. (Repit.i.tion Of Maxim 344.)

XCVI.--A good woman is a hidden treasure; he who discovers her will do well not to boast about it. (See Maxim 368.)

XCVII.--Most women do not weep for the loss of a lover to show that they have been loved so much as to show that they are worth being loved. (See Maxim 362.)

XCVIII.--There are many virtuous women who are weary of the part they have played. (See Maxim 367.)

XCIX.--If we think we love for love's sake we are much mistaken. (See Maxim 374.)