158. — Flattery is base coin to which only our vanity gives currency. - François de La Rochefoucauld

Of all our passions, that which is most unknown to ourselves is indolence. Although the injuries it causes are very imperceptible, no other passion is more ardent or more malignant. If we consider attentively its influence we shall see that on every occasion it renders itself master of our sentiments, our interests, and our pleasures; it is the remora which arrests the course of the largest vessels, a calm more dangerous to the most important affairs than rocks or tempests. The repose of indolence is a secret spell of the mind which suspends our most ardent pursuits and our firmest resolves.

Il faut gouverner la fortune comme la santé: en jouir quand elle est bonne, prendre patience quand elle est mauvaise.

Few men, nevertheless, can have unison in many matters without being a copy of each other, if each follow his natural turn of mind. But in general a person will not wholly follow it. He loves to imitate. We often imitate the same person without perceiving it, and we neglect our own good qualities for the good qualities of others, which generally do not suit us.