It is said that no man is a hero to his valet. That is only because a hero can be recognised only by a hero. The valet will probably know how to appreciate his like,--his fellow-valet. 273 There is no greater consolation for mediocrity than that the genius is not immortal. 274 The greatest men are linked to their age by some weak point. 275 We generally take men to be more dangerous than they are. 276 Fools and wise folk are alike harmless. It is the half-wise, and the half-foolish, who are the most dangerous. 277 To see a difficult thing lightly handled gives us the impression of the impossible. 278 Difficulties increase the nearer we come to our aim. 279 Sowing is not so painful as reaping. 280 We are fond of looking to the future, because our secret wishes make us apt to turn in our favour the uncertainties which move about in it hither and thither. 281 It is not easy to be in any great assembly without thinking that the chance which brings so many people together will also make us meet our friends. 282 A man may live never so retired a life but he becomes a debtor or a creditor before he is aware of it. 283 If anyone meets us who owes us a debt of gratitude, it immediately crosses our mind. How often can we meet some one to whom we owe gratitude, without thinking of it! 284 To communicate oneself is Nature; to receive a communication as it is given is Culture. 285 No one would speak much in society if he were aware how often we misunderstand others. 286 It is only because we have not understood a thing that we cannot repeat it without alteration. 287 To make a long speech in the presence of others without flattering your audience, is to rouse dislike. 288 Every word that we utter rouses its contrary. 289 Contradiction and flattery make, both of them, bad conversation. 290 The pleasantest society is that in which there exists a genial deference amongst the members one towards another. 291 By nothing do men show their character more than by the things they laugh at. 292 The ridiculous springs from a moral contrast innocently presented to the senses. 293 The sensual man often laughs when there is nothing to laugh at. Whatever it is that moves him, he shows that he is pleased with himself. 294 An intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, a wise man hardly anything. 295 A man well on in years was reproved for still troubling himself about young women. 'It is the only means,' he replied, 'of regaining one's youth; and that is something every one wishes to do.' 296 A man does not mind being blamed for his faults, and being punished for them, and he patiently suffers much for the sake of them; but he becomes impatient if he is required to give them up. 297 Certain faults are necessary to the individual if he is to exist. We should not like old friends to give up certain peculiarities. 298 It is said of a man that he will soon die, when he acts in any way unlike himself. 299