COUNSELS AND MAXIMS.
Le bonheur n'est pas chose aisée: il est
très difficile de le trouver en nous, et impossible
de le trouver ailleurs.
Chamfort.
Contents
[ CHAPTER I. — GENERAL RULES. ]
[ SECTION 2. To estimate a man's condition in regard to happiness, it is ]
[ SECTION 3. Care should be taken not to build the happiness of life ]
[ CHAPTER II. — OUR RELATION TO OURSELVES.— ]
[ SECTION 5. Another important element in the wise conduct of life is to ]
[ SECTION 6. Limitations always make for happiness. We are happy in ]
[ SECTION 7. Whether we are in a pleasant or a painful state depends, ]
[ SECTION 8. To live a life that shall be entirely prudent and discreet, ]
[ SECTION 9. To be self-sufficient, to be all in all to oneself, to ]
[ SECTION 10. Envy is natural to man; and still, it is at once a vice ]
[ SECTION 11. Give mature and repeated consideration to any plan before ]
[ SECTION 13. In all matters affecting our weal or woe, we should be ]
[ SECTION 14. The sight of things which do not belong to us is very apt ]
[ SECTION 15. The things which engage our attention—whether they are ]
[ SECTION 16. We must set limits to our wishes, curb our desires, ]
[ SECTION 17. Life consists in movement, says Aristotle; and he is ]
[ SECTION 18. A man should avoid being led on by the phantoms of his ]
[ SECTION 19. The preceding rule may be taken as a special case of the ]
[ SECTION 20. In the first part of this work I have insisted upon the ]
[ CHAPTER III. — OUR RELATION TO OTHERS.— ]
[ SECTION 22. It is astonishing how easily and how quickly similarity, ]
[ SECTION 23. No man can see over his own height. Let me explain what ]
[ SECTION 24. I feel respect for the man—and he is one in a ]
[ SECTION 25. La Rochefoucauld makes the striking remark that it is ]
[ SECTION 26. Most men are so thoroughly subjective that nothing really ]
[ SECTION 27. When any wrong statement is made, whether in public or ]
[ SECTION 28. Men are like children, in that, if you spoil them, they ]
[ SECTION 29. It is often the case that people of noble character and ]
[ SECTION 30. No man is so formed that he can be left entirely to ]
[ SECTION 31. A man bears the weight of his own body without knowing it, ]
[ SECTION 32. When he is young, a man of noble character fancies that ]
[ SECTION 33. As paper-money circulates in the world instead of real ]
[ SECTION 34. A man must be still a greenhorn in the ways of the ]
[ SECTION 35. Our trust in other people often consists in great measure ]
[ SECTION 36. Politeness,—which the Chinese hold to be a cardinal ]
[ SECTION 37. You ought never to take any man as a model for what you ]
[ SECTION 38. Never combat any man's opinion; for though you reached the ]
[ SECTION 39. If you want your judgment to be accepted, express it ]
[ SECTION 40. Even when you are fully justified in praising yourself, ]
[ SECTION 41. If you have reason to suspect that a person is telling you ]
[ SECTION 42. You should regard all your private affairs as secrets, ]
[ SECTION 43. Money is never spent to so much advantage as when you have ]
[ SECTION 44. If possible, no animosity should be felt for anyone. But ]
[ SECTION 45. To speak angrily to a person, to show your hatred by ]
[ SECTION 46. To speak without emphasizing your words—parler sans ]
[ CHAPTER IV. — WORLDLY FORTUNE.— ]
[ SECTION 48. An ancient writer says, very truly, that there are three ]
[ SECTION 49. That Time works great changes, and that all things are ]
[ SECTION 50. In the daily affairs of life, you will have very many ]
[ SECTION 51. Whatever fate befalls you, do not give way to great ]
[ SECTION 52. What people commonly call Fate is, as a general rule, ]
[ SECTION 53. Courage comes next to prudence as a quality of mind very ]
[ CHAPTER V. — THE AGES OF LIFE. ]