"Du même fonds d’orgueil dont l’on s’élève fièrement au-dessus de ses inférieurs, l’on rampe vilement devant ceux qui sont au-dessus de soi. C’est le propre de ce vice, qui n’est fondé ni sur le mérite personnel ni sur la vertu, mais sur les richesses, les postes, le crédit, et sur de vaines sciences, de nous porter également à mépriser ceux qui ont moins que nous de cette espèce de biens, et à estimer trop ceux qui en ont une mesure qui excède la nôtre."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
The same pride which makes a man treat haughtily his inferiors, makes him cringe servilely to those above him. It is the very nature of this vice, which is neither based on personal merit nor on virtue, but on riches, posts, influence, and useless knowledge, to render a man as supercilious to those who are below him as to over-value those who are above. — “Of The Gifts of Fortune,” #57
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Caract%C3%A8res
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Les Caractères
40 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Les Caractères →
Related Quotes
"Menippus is a bird decked in various feathers which are not his. He neither says nor feels anything, but repeats the …"
"It is no more in our power to love always than it was not to love at all."
"S’il est ordinaire d’être vivement touché des choses rares, pourquoi le sommes-nous si peu de la vertu?"
"Il apparaît de temps en temps sur la surface de la terre des hommes rares, exquis, qui brillent par leur vertu, et do…"
"A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor can…"
"There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and wilfully go wrong for fear of being controlled."
"An intelligent man neither allows himself to be controlled nor attempts to control others; he wishes reason alone to …"
"A plain appearance is to ordinary men their proper garb: it suits them and fits them, but it adorns those persons who…"
"S’il est heureux d’avoir de la naissance, il ne l’est pas moins d’être tel qu’on ne s’informe plus si vous en avez."
"All passions are deceptive; they conceal themselves as much as possible from others and from themselves as well. No v…"