"La vertu n'irait pas si loin si la vanité ne lui tenait compagnie. "Virtue would not go far if vanity did not keep it company. - François de La Rochefoucauld

Virtue would not go so far if vanity did not keep it company.

La vertu n’irait pas si loin si la vanité ne lui tenait compagnie

Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others

Our pride often grows fat on what we cut from our other faults

Although all the qualities of mind may be united in a great genius, yet there are some which are special and peculiar to him; his views are unlimited; he always acts uniformly and with the same activity; he sees distant objects as if present; he comprehends and grasps the greatest, sees and notices the smallest matters; his thoughts are elevated, broad, just and intelligible. Nothing escapes his observation, and he often finds truth in spite of the obscurity that hides her from others. A lofty mind always thinks nobly, it easily creates vivid, agreeable, and natural fancies, places them in their best light, clothes them with all appropriate adornments, studies others' tastes, and clears away from its own thoughts all that is useless and disagreeable.