"Always judge your fellow passengers to be the opposite of what they strive to appear to be. For instance, a military man is not quarrelsome, for no man doubts his courage; but a snob is. A clergyman is not over strait- laced, for his piety is not questioned; but a cheat is. A lawyer is not apt to be argumentative; but an actor is. A woman that is all smiles and graces is a vixen at heart : snakes fascinate. A stranger that is obsequious and over-civil without apparent cause is treacherous: cats that purr are apt to bite and scratch. Pride is one thing, assumption is another; the latter must always get the cold shoulder, for whoever shews it is no gentleman: men never affect to be what they are, but what they are not. The only man who really is what he appears to be is — a gentleman."
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Maxims of an Old Stager.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Chandler_Haliburton
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Thomas Chandler Haliburton
Thomas Chandler Haliburton (December 17, 1796 – August 27, 1865) was one of the first major Canadian authors. He was also a judge and, for a short period of years, a member of the Canadian Parliament.
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