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543.
The Incarnation of the Mind.—When any one thinks much and to good purpose, not only his face but also his body acquires a sage look.
544.
Seeing Badly and Hearing Badly.—The man who sees little always sees less than there is to see; the man who hears badly always hears something more than there is to hear.
545.
Self-enjoyment in Vanity.—The vain man does not wish so much to be prominent as to feel himself prominent; he therefore disdains none of the expedients for self-deception and self-out-witting. It is not the opinion of others that he sets his heart on, but his opinion of their opinion
546.
Exceptionally Vain.—He who is usually self-sufficient becomes exceptionally vain, and keenly alive to fame and praise when he is physically ill. The more he loses himself the more he has to endeavour to regain his position by means of the opinion of others.
547.
The "Witty."—Those who seek wit do not possess it.
548.
A Hint to the Heads of Parties.—When one can make people publicly support a cause they have also generally been brought to the point of inwardly declaring themselves in its favour, because they wish to be regarded as consistent.
549.
Contempt.—Man is more sensitive to the contempt of others than to self-contempt.
550.
The Tie of Gratitude.—There are servile souls who carry so far their sense of obligation for benefits received that they strangle themselves with the tie of gratitude.
551.
The Prophet's Knack.—In predicting beforehand the procedure of ordinary individuals, it must be taken for granted that they always make use of the smallest intellectual expenditure in freeing themselves from disagreeable situations.
552.
Man's Sole Right.—He who swerves from the traditional is a victim of the unusual; he who keeps to the traditional is its slave. The man is ruined in either case.
553.
Below the Beast.—When a man roars with laughter he surpasses all the animals by his vulgarity.
554.
Partial Knowledge.—He who speaks a foreign language imperfectly has more enjoyment therein than he who speaks it well. The enjoyment is with the partially initiated.
555.
Dangerous Helpfulness.—There are people who wish to make human life harder for no other reason than to be able afterwards to offer men their life-alleviating recipes—their Christianity, for example.
556.
Industriousness and Conscientiousness.—Industriousness and conscientiousness are often antagonists, owing to the fact that industriousness wants to pluck the fruit sour from the tree while conscientiousness wants to let it hang too long, until it falls and is bruised.
557.
Casting Suspicion.—We endeavour to cast suspicion on persons whom we cannot endure.
558.
The Conditions Are Lacking.—Many people wait all their lives for the opportunity to be good in their own way.
559.
Lack of Friends.—Lack of friends leads to the inference that a person is envious or presumptuous. Many a man owes his friends merely to the fortunate circumstance that he has no occasion for envy.
560.
Danger in Manifoldness.—With one talent more we often stand less firmly than with one less; just as a table stands better on three feet than on four.
561.
An Exemplar For Others.—Whoever wants to set a good example must add a grain of folly to his virtue; people then imitate their exemplar and at the same time raise themselves above him, a thing they love to do.
562.
Being a Target.—The bad things others say about us are often not really aimed at us, but are the manifestations of spite or ill-humour occasioned by quite different causes.
563.
Easily Resigned.—We suffer but little on account of ungratified wishes if we have exercised our imagination in distorting the past.
564.
In Danger.—One is in greatest danger of being run over when one has just got out of the way of a carriage.
565.
The Role According to the Voice.—Whoever is obliged to speak louder than he naturally does (say, to a partially deaf person or before a large audience), usually exaggerates what he has to communicate. Many a one becomes a conspirator, malevolent gossip, or intriguer, merely because his voice is best suited for whispering.
566.
Love and Hatred.—Love and hatred are not blind, but are dazzled by the fire which they carry about with them.
567.
Advantageously Persecuted.—People who cannot make their merits perfectly obvious to the world endeavour to awaken a strong hostility against themselves. They have then the consolation of thinking that this hostility stands between their merits and the acknowledgment thereof—-[Pg 372] and that many others think the same thing, which is very advantageous for their recognition.
568.
Confession.—We forget our fault when we have confessed it to another person, but he does not generally forget it.
569.
Self-sufficiency.—The Golden Fleece of self-sufficiency is a protection against blows, but not against needle-pricks.
570.
Shadows in the Flame.—The flame is not so bright to itself as to those whom it illuminates,—so also the wise man.
571.
Our Own Opinions.—The first opinion that occurs to us when we are suddenly asked about anything is not usually our own, but only the current opinion belonging to our caste, position, or family; our own opinions seldom float on the surface.
572.
The Origin of Courage.—The ordinary man is as courageous and invulnerable as a hero when he does not see the danger, when he has no eyes for it. Reversely, the hero has his one vulnerable spot upon the back, where he has no eyes.
573.
The Danger in the Physician.—One must be born for one's physician, otherwise one comes to grief through him.
