. . . this rage - I have never forgotten it - contained every anger, every revolt I had ever felt in my life - the way I felt when I saw the black dog hunted, the way I felt when I watched old Uncle Henry taken away to the almshouse, the way I felt whenever I had seen people or animals hurt for the pleasure or profit of others.
What men have called friendship is only a social arrangement, a mutual adjustment of interests, an interchange of services given and received; it is, in sum, simply a business from which those involved propose to derive a steady profit for their own self-love.
Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)
Source: Sentences et Maximes Morales, no. 83 (1678)
Honesty is a good thing, but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control. If you are not honest at all everybody hates you, and if you are absolutely honest you get martyred.
In our worship there are two elements; one is spiritual communion arising from our own meditation; the other, instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us. Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is meditation.
The most important thing in life is not simply to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The important thing is to profit from your loses. That requires intelligence, and makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool.
Become a fan
Follow us
Subscribe
