“ Others whose fidelity we know trust nothing to us, but we confide in them by choice and inclination. ”
François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665). copy citation
| Author | François de La Rochefoucauld |
|---|---|
| Source | Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims |
| Topic | choice fidelity |
| Date | 1665 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by J. W. Willis Bund |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9105/9105-h/9105-h.htm |
Context
“Most frequently we make confidants from vanity, a love of talking, a wish to win the confidence of others, and make an exchange of secrets.
Some may have a motive for confiding in us, towards whom we have no motive for confiding. With them we discharge the obligation in keeping their secrets and trusting them with small confidences.
Others whose fidelity we know trust nothing to us, but we confide in them by choice and inclination.
We should hide from them nothing that concerns us, we should always show them with equal truth, our virtues and our vices, without exaggerating the one or diminishing the other. We should make it a rule never to have half confidences.”
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