[Marceline] sensed already what I was struggling to discover; and when I reproached her for believing too often in the virtues she herself had invent… - André Gide

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[Marceline] sensed already what I was struggling to discover; and when I reproached her for believing too often in the virtues she herself had invented in the people we knew, she replied: ‘You’re never satisfied until you’ve made them reveal some vice. Don’t you realize that our own eyes magnify and exaggerate whatever they happen to see — that we make anyone become what we claim he is?’

I might have wished she were wrong, but I had to admit that to me each man’s worst instinct seemed the most sincere. Then, what was it I called sincerity?