La Rochefoucauld writes, “Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder fixément”: “Neither the sun nor death can be stared at (looked at fixedly)” (Maxim 19, edition of 1678.)  In each case seeing would undo sight.  But impossibility is apt to be disregarded.  We may think of the peril of raising one’s eyes to the Sun King; or of a philosopher who, following Socrates, practices dying and being dead (Phaedo 64a), until he becomes unable to see life as others do.

The blindness or darkness that ensues in such cases has been represented as the condition of a castaway, one shipwrecked.  Thus the men of Odysseus appropriate the cattle of Helios Hyperion, the Sun that is Over, and having so raised their eyes to the god, they slay his beasts ὑπέρβιον, hyperbion, over-boldly (Odyssey 1.8, 12.379).  Demanding atonement, Helios threatens to go down to Hades and shine among the dead; to satisfy him Zeus blasts the men out of Odysseus’s ship with a thunderbolt and destroys it.  Their leader, who had condemned the sacrilege, is saved alone, to be carried all but helpless to Calypso’s island.  —What the god Odysseus offended (by proxy) would have done is to blind the living world and reveal the thinness of the one below.  By this the hero’s affinity with him is evident, for Odysseus too is a blinder—not only of the Cyclops, but of many men by his disguises, including the Trojan horse, and the cloak of his speech—and himself visits the dead, illuminating them but experiencing their emptiness.

Again, Milton’s Satan, “fraught / With envy against the Son of God,” (Paradise Lost 5.661) is cast “Thunder-struck” (6.858) with his followers into “a fiery Gulf” in “darkness visible,” (1.52, 63) from which he makes his way to land.  He resembles a sun darkened:

His form had not yet lost
All her Original brightness, nor appear’d
Less than Arch-Angel ruin’d, and th’ excess
Of Glory obscur’d: As when the Sun new ris’n
Looks through the Horizontal misty Air
Shorn of his Beams, or from behind the Moon
In dim Eclipse disastrous twilight sheds
On half the Nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes Monarchs.  Dark’n’d so, yet shone
Above them all th’ Arch-Angel: but his face
Deep scars of Thunder had intrencht…
(1.591)

At the gate of his new world Satan encounters Sin and “her black attendant Death” (7.547),

The other shape,
If shape it might be call’d that shape had none
Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb,
Or substance might be call’d that shadow seem’d,
For each seem’d either—black it stood as Night…
(2.666)

Death is unseeable, or unknowable, because it has no form; in Greek, no eidos.  —This is the very idea that frightens people about Hades, Socrates thinks: the name of the place (that is, of the god whose place it is), Ἅιδης, Haidēs, resembles ἀειδής, aeidēs, which is ἀ-εἶδος, a-eidos, ‘without form,’ ‘invisible,’ ‘unknowable’ (Cratylus 403a).  In truth, their anxiety is unwarranted: it is the world that is ever-changing, while the ideal realm of the invisible is the proper place of the soul that is like it (Phaedo 79a–81d).

The blind poets’ notions of Heaven’s light gone down to shine in the underworld, and of the darkness below risen up to infect the world above—both suggest the curious image of a black sun.  Where was it first formulated in this phrase?  The first occurrence I am aware of is in Heine’s Der Schiffbrüchige, The Shipwrecked One, whose eponymous figure describes by it the eye of his lost beloved:

…Und aus dem süßen, blassen Antlitz,
Groß und gewaltig, strahlt ein Auge,
Wie eine schwarze Sonne.

O, du schwarze Sonne, wie oft,
Entzückend oft, trank ich aus dir
die wilden Begeistrungsflammen…

…And out of her sweet, pale face,
large and powerful, beams an eye,
like a black sun.

O thou black sun, how often,
enchantingly often, I drank from thee
wild flames of inspiration…

Now he lies on a barren shore.  A quarter-century later Nerval uses the expression in his famous El Desdichado, which begins:

Je suis le ténébreux, — le veuf, — l’inconsolé,
Le prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie :
Ma seule étoile est morte, — et mon luth constellé
Porte le Soleil noir de la Mélancolie.

I am the dark one,—the widower,—the unconsoled,
the prince of Aquitaine with the ruined tower:
my only star is dead,—and my star-spangled lute
bears the black Sun of Melancholy.

Elsewhere (as the Pléiade edition points out) he alludes to “the black sun of melancholy, which sheds dark rays upon the face of the dreaming angel of Albert [sic] Dürer”; thus the allusion is to the well-known engraving “Melencolia I.”  Without going further into this poem, I note that in its own way it seems to continue the theme of the castaway.  Following Walter Scott’s error in Ivanhoe, Nerval presumably thinks the Spanish title means “The Disinherited One,” separated from his patrimony; and in his lostness the speaker resembles Keats’s knight, “alone and palely loitering.”  He says, “J’ai rêvé dans la grotte où nage la syrène…,” “I have dreamed in the grotto where the siren swims…”; but unlike Odysseus, he has acquired the knowledge she imparts.

After all I suppose the theme of shipwreck is nothing more than a particular case of the favorite condition of the poets, that of exile.

Le persone deboli non possono essere sincere

Ah, caro piccolo intellettuale d’oltralpe, questa la condivido in pieno. A volte posso sembrare un po’troppo severo, ma non riesco ad essere indulgente quando la debolezza di alcuni provoca danni agli altri.

Comunque ti ringrazio per la compagnia che mi fai in queste serate bolognesi. Fra un po’ me ne andrò a mangiare in una trattoria e mi annebbierò la mente di lambrusco, carni bollite e creme caramel. Alleluja.

Un’intelligenza mediocre ma retta alla lunga annoia meno di un’intelligenza spiccata ma contorta.

Interessante, anche se non la prenderei come verità assoluta.

Sono in un albergo di Milano, ’stasera. Preferivo Roma.

“Some people with great virtues are disagreeable, while others with great vices are delightful.“   — La Rochefoucauld

Γιάννης Σταύρου, Γυναίκα με καπέλο, λάδι σε καμβά

Βαθύς γνώστης της ανθρώπινης φύσης ο La Rochefoucauld παραμένει ένας αξεπέραστος στοχαστής.

Τα αποφθέγματα του θεωρούνται από τα καλύτερα που γράφτηκαν ποτέ…

Απολαύστέ τα σε πρόχειρη μετάφραση από αγγλικό κείμενο:

* Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)

If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.

Εάν δεν κολακεύουμε τους εαυτούς μας, η κολακεία των άλλων ποτέ δεν θα μας βλάψει.

If we had no faults of our own, we should not take so much pleasure in noticing those in others.

Εάν δεν είχαμε δικά μας ελαττώματα, δεν θα αντλούσαμε τόσο πολλή ευχαρίστηση παρατηρώντας τα στους άλλους.

Innocence does not find near so much protection as guilt.

Η αθωότητα δεν προστατεύεται ποτέ τόσο πολύ όσο η ενοχή

It is from a weakness and smallness of mind that men are opinionated; and we are very loath to believe what we are not able to comprehend.

Από αδυναμία και μικρότητα του μυαλού οι άνθρωποι είναι αδιάλλακτοι· και είμαστε πολύ απρόθυμοι να πιστέψουμε ό,τι δεν είμαστε ικανοί να κατανοήσουμε.

It is often laziness and timidity that keep us within our duty while virtue gets all the credit.

Είναι συχνά η τεμπελιά και η δειλία που μας κρατούν στο καθήκον μας ενώ η αρετή παίρνει όλα τα εύσημα.

Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.

Τα μέτρια μυαλά συνήθως απορρίπτουν ό,τι αδυνατούν να κατανοήσουν

Nothing prevents one from appearing natural as the desire to appear natural.

Τίποτα δεν αποτρέπει κάποιον να εμφανίζεται φυσικός όσο η επιθυμία να εμφανίζεται φυσικός.

People always complain about their memories, never about their minds.

Οι άνθρωποι πάντα παραπονιούνται για τις αναμνήσεις τους, ποτέ για τα μυαλά τους.

Perfect behaviour is born of complete indifference.

Η τέλεια συμπεριφορά είναι γέννημα της πλήρους αδιαφορίας

Perfect Valour is to do, without a witness, all that we could do before the whole world.

Τέλεια ανδρεία σημαίνει να διαπράττεις, χωρίς κανένα μάρτυρα, όλα αυτά που θα μπορούσες να διαπράξεις μποστά σ’ολόκληρο τον κόσμο.

Philosophy finds it an easy matter to vanquish past and future evils, but the present are commonly too hard for it.

Η φιλοσοφία βρίσκει εύκολο θέμα όταν συντρίβει παρελθόντα και μελλοντικά κακά, όμως τα παρόντα είναι συνήθως πάρα πολύ δύσκολα γι’ αυτήν.

Quarrels would not last long if the fault was only on one side.

Οι φιλονικίες δεν θα διαρκούσαν πολύ εάν το σφάλμα βρισκόταν ήταν μόνο στη μια πλευρά.

The principal point of cleverness is to know how to value things just as they deserve.

Το κύριο σημείο της ευφυίας είναι να γνωρίζεις να εκτιμάς τα πράγματα όπως ακριβώς το αξίζουν.

The reason why so few people are agreeable in conversation is that each is thinking more about what he intends to say than others are saying.

Ο λόγος για τον οποίο τόσο λίγοι άνθρωποι συμφωνούν στη συζήτηση είναι γιατί ο καθένας σκέφτεται περισσότερο για αυτό που σκοπεύει να πει παρα γι’αυτό που λένε οι άλλοι.

The surest way to be deceived is to consider oneself cleverer than others.

Ο πιό σίγουρος τρόπος να εξαπατηθεί κανείς είναι να θεωρήσει τον εαυτό του εξυπνότερο από τους άλλος.

There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.

Υπάρχουν διάφορα είδη περιέργειας· κάποιο είναι από το ενδιαφέρον, που μας κάνει να επιθυμούμε να γνωρίζουμε ό,τι μπορεί να μας αποβεί χρήσιμο· και το άλλο, από την υπερηφάνεια που προέρχεται από την επιθυμία να γνωρίζουμε ό,τι οι άλλοι αγνοούν.

There is nothing men are so generous of as advice.

Σε τίποτα οι άνθρωποι δεν είναι τόσο γεναιόδωροι όσο στις συμβουλές.

Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others.

Αυτοί που είναι ανίκανοι να διαπράξουν μεγάλα εγκλήμτα δεν τα υποψιάζονται εύκολα στους άλλους.

Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness.

Αυτοί που απασχολούν το μυαλό τους με μικροθέματα, γίνονται ανίκανοι για το μεγαλειώδες.

Though men are apt to flatter and exalt themselves with their great achievements, yet these are, in truth, very often owing not so much to design as chance.

Παρ’όλο που οι άνθρωποι αρέσκονται να κολακεύουν και να εξυψώνουν τους εαυτούς τους για τα μεγάλα τους επιτεύγματα, στην πραγματικότητα, αυτά οφείλονται όχι τόσο στον σχεδιασμό όσο στην τύχη.

Usually we praise only to be praised.

Συνήθως εγκωμιάζουμε μόνο για να εγκωμιαστούμε.

Virtue would go far if vanity did not keep it company.

Η αρετή θα πήγαινε μακριά εάν η ματαιοδοξία δεν της κρατούσε συντοφιά.

We always love those who admire us, but we do not always love those whom we admire.

Συνήθως αγαπούμε όσους μας θαυμάζουν, αλλά δεν αγαπούμε πάντα όσους εμείς θαυμάζουμε.

We are more interested in making others believe we are happy than in trying to be happy ourselves.

Ενδιαφερόμαστε περισσότερο να κάνουμε τους άλλους να θεωρούν ότι είμαστε ευτυχείς παρά προσπαθούμε να είμαστε οι ίδιοι ευτυχείς..

We are never so ridiculous through what we are as through what we pretend to be.

Δεν είμαστε ποτέ τόσο γελοίοι μέσω αυτού που είμαστε όσο μέσω αυτού που προσποιούμαστε ότι είμαστε

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.

Έχουμε τόσο εξοικιωθεί να μεταμφιέζουμε τον εαυτό μας απέναντι στους άλλους που στο τέλος μεταμφιεζόμαστε κι απέναντι στον εαυτό μας.

We easily forgive our friends those faults that do no affect us ourselves.

Εύκολα συγχωρούμε στους φίλους μας όσα σφάλματα δεν έχουν επίδραση πάνω μας.

We have no patience with other people’s vanity because it is offensive to our own.

Δεν έχουμε υπομονή με την ματαιοδοξία των άλλων ανθρώπων γιατί δυσαρεστεί τη δική μας.

We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.

Συχνά συγχωρούμε αυτούς που βαριόμαστε, αλλά δεν μπορούμε να συγχωρήσουμε όσους μας βαριούνται.

We often pardon those that annoy us, but we cannot pardon those we annoy.

Συχνά συγχωρούμε αυτούς που μας ενοχλούν, αλλά δεν μπορούμε να συγχωρήσουμε όσους ενοχλούμε.

We only confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no big ones.

Ομολογούμε μόνο τα μικρά μας σφάλματα για να πείσουμε τους ανθρώπους ότι δεν έχουμε διαπράξει μεγάλα.

We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.

Υποσχόμαστε σύμφωνα με τις ελπίδες μας και εκτελούμε σύμφωνα με τους φόβους μας.

We promise in proportion to our hopes, and we deliver in proportion to our fears.

Υποσχόμαστε σε αναλογία με τις ελπίδες μας και διανέμουμε σε αναλογία με τους φόβους μας.

We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.

Θα αισθανόμασταν συχνά ντροπή για τις καλύτερές μας πράξεις εάν ο κόσμος μπορούσε να δει όλα τα κίνητρα που τις παρήγαγαν

Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended.

Η αδυναμία του χαρακτήρα είναι η μόνη ατέλεια που δεν μπορεί να τροποποιηθεί

What keeps us from abandoning ourselves entirely to one vice, often, is the fact that we have several.

Αυτό που μας κρατά από το να εγκαταλειφθούμε ολοκληρωτικά σε μια κακία, συχνά, είναι το γεγονός ότι διαθέτουμε αρκετές.

What men have called friendship is only a social arrangement, a mutual adjustment of interests, an interchange of services given and received; it is, in sum, simply a business from which those involved propose to derive a steady profit for their own self-love.

Αυτό που οι άνθρωποι αποκαλούν τη φιλία είναι μόνο μια κοινωνική ρύθμιση, μια αμοιβαία προσαρμογή ενδιαφερόντων, μια ανταλλαγή αποδιδομένων και λαμβανομένων  υπηρεσιών· είναι, συνοπτικά, απλά μια επιχείρηση από την οποία όσοι εμπλέκονται σκοπεύουν να αντλήσουν ένα σταθερό κέρδος χάριν της αγάπης στον εαυτό τους και μόνο.

What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.

Αυτό που φαίνεται ως γενναιοδωρία δεν είναι τίποτα παραπάνω από μεταμφιεσμένη φιλοδοξία, η οποία αγνοεί ένα μικρό ενδιαφέρον προκειμένου να εξασφαλιστεί ένα μεγάλο.

What we call generosity is for the most part only the vanity of giving; and we exercise it because we are more fond of that vanity than of the thing we give.

Ό,τι αποκαλούμε γενναιοδωρία είναι ως επί το πλείστον μόνο η ματαιοδοξία του δοσίματος· και το ασκούμε επειδή κλίνουμε περισσότερο στη ματαιοδοξία παρά στα πράγματα που δίνουμε.

This must fit into everybody’s schedule, with determined regularity. The very sad reality, however, is that no matter how beneficial this is, it neither will be done nor adhered to until it’s too late.

 
That is the nature of human beings. Everybody is subconsciously engaged in health brinkmanship. According to the law of averages, there is a small percentage of people who are obsessed with this activity, because they are the exceptions.

DIETING AND EXERCISING TO LOSE FAT

1. Above all, the inclination for diet and exercise is not only inborn, it is a life style. But those not born with inclination, yet become heavily influenced by the obsolete notion that being on the plump-side is a status symbol — a sign of affluence.

Simply ask yourself. Who do you perceive as the one living in comfort, all other things being equal, a person 20% overweight or somebody who is 20% underweight? Definitely, the former is the prevalent myth.

2. As a young person matures, his/her preoccupations make him oblivious to the rationalities of disciplined living invoked by the adage “health is wealth.” Instead, he/she succumbs to the stereo-typing or branding by promoters of “the lesser the effort, the better.” He/she chooses to spend a lot taking in calories and fat, while refusing to spend a little more to expell the excess from his body.

3. People fail to grasp the financial reality that eating in opulence is actually cheaper than dieting and exercising opulently. Or, it is more expensive in terms of both time and money, to diet and exercise elegantly than to just eat heartily.

3.1 Health foods are more expensive to produce, let alone selecting them;

 
3.2 Acquiring specialized cooking and processing appliances are none essential items that cost a lot;

 
3.3 Keeping stock of food supplements, designer vitamins, protein, VCO, grape seed and other anti-oxidants are usually exclusive of everybody’s basic monthly household budget;

 
3.4 Either going to the gym or building/accumulating quality exercise gadgets and machines and buying imported reading materials are serious financial undertakings;

 
3.5 Keeping a regular physical fitness regimen get in the way of earning more income (like spending for serious tournament practices and the consequential work absence when avoiding a match default);

 
3.6 Being a physical fitness buff, in some cases, has a downside including having a selected social base; unless not one of your associates and friends ever call you names such lazy, dumb Pollack, bimbo, narcissist, etc. Or, unless nobody in your, erstwhile, circle is insecure with his/her physical makeup.

 
If the deeper analysis shows that the inseparable combination of dieting and exercising is the real measure of financial status, why is it not aspired for by the status conscious?

 
4. It isn’t aspired for Virginia, because the disinclined have been numbed by the consumerist belief that, “working hard and long hours will automatically make them succeed.” What they conveniently forget is that, the consumerism culture will automatically accelerate their growing old. They have their chosen lifestyle and no amount of urgency will suffice. Perhaps the hackneyed expression in the vernacular seems appropriate, “Kung gusto, maraming paraan. Kung ayaw, maraming dahilan.” (If inherently desired, there are countless ways. If inherently disliked, so many alibis.)

 
5. The most meaningless question asked of me by friends, who by any standard could be considered intelligent, “You’re neither fat nor overweight, so why are you exercising vigorously?”

 
Somehow, I’ve managed to riposte that, “That’s precisely the point. I want to maintain my ideal weight.” And then took my turn in asking them, “Do wait until you become fat before you diet and exercise?”

 
5.1 Bright and intelligent people are instinctive readers. They take advantage of the minute opportunities to read, test opposing ideas and are quick in organizing their thoughts before expressing them.

 
5.2 The same can be said about people who are physical fitness conscious. Whether they are on their daily work routine, on field work, or on a short vacation, they find the slightest pretext to exercise and play;

 
6. Those who have the propensity to spend for liposuction or reconstructive surgery are only solving a third of their problem. After the successful operation, a more shapely body is achieved but, there is still the need to exercise the lungs and the heart. What good is a shapely body when the heart and the lungs are not in good condition? The same can be said about oral medications for slimming.

 
7. Here is the dreadful finish-line. People who are disinclined to engage in the real status symbol will only be compelled after they have been medically prescribed and politely warned that they would die in the very near future, or when it is already too late.

 
8. The only time that the chosen overweight-lifestyle overtakes the financial status of maintaining an underweight- lifestyle, is during the prolonged period of terminal hospitalization. “Oh, how catastrophic! Our family spent millions in his/her hospitalization,” is the usual lamentation and dissimulated bragging.

 
9. Isn’t it pathetic for many senior citizens, resigned to fade away inexpensively and effortlessly, to unfairly chide others? “You’re already old, why bother to look shapely and younger than your actual age?” Not contended with that sabotaging remark they say further, “Those who engage in very tiresome and, sometimes, painful exercises, are either masochists or narcissists.”

 
10. This writer is not wont to dissuade others from dyeing their hair or undergo dermatological and cosmetic modifications for vanity. It is their personal choice. But I prefer to maintain a healthy respiratory, skeletal, muscular and cardio-vascular system, and balancing the required activities with regular reading, writing and other intellectual pursuits, aside from getting an optimum amount of good sex. Listen: no balanced physical and mental conditionings, equals no elegant maturing and dying.

 
10.1 While we’re into sex, I am narrating this anecdote, exclusively for the male readers. Unmarried ladies need matured discretion.

 
During the first alumni homecoming, where the others seated in my table were all males, I heard a batch mate complained about having been served with small sautéed squids. He asked for the bigger, and obviously, more expensive ones. Somebody in our table admonished him that the bigger squids couldn’t be digested efficiently by matured alumni like the rest of those seated among us. The admonisher said further, “The bigger squids are more difficult to chew because they are rubbery.”

 
10.2 I offered my own gleeful warning. “Almost everybody in this table has studied and worked abroad, toured other continents and has eaten almost every conceivable delicacy…” I paused, gave the naughty punch line. “We have eaten all kinds of pussies…blonde, brunette, red haired, white and black haired. Can’t we moderate our intakes and concentrate on the health foods?” The cheering, jeering and giving of hi-fives made the occupants at the farthest tables turned their heads toward us.

 
10.3 Another batch mate not wanting to be outdone narrated his story with a poignant irony, “During my prime, I was disparaged for too much playing after work. The disparagers were contemptuous of me because I didn’t seem to work hard enough, like them, though I surpassed my own forecast every time.”

 
He felt satisfied seeing each one of us intently listening to him. He disclosed the real irony. “When I confronted them with the question, ‘What will you do after working endlessly during your prime?’ Their surprising but unfailing answer was, ‘I will also play.’ ”

 
10.4 A fourth batch mate concluded, “The irony is eventually realized when aging persons couldn’t anymore engage in balanced physical and mental regimens, after they have already contracted debilitating ailments resulting from their abhorrence or disinclination to perform those regimens during their prime. All what is left of them is hindsight…’I should have done this…I should have done that…’ while undergoing physical therapy and rehab. ”

 
10.5 The youngest in the group doused cold water. “…But can you tell me if what La Rochefoucauld (LR) said is true? LR said that, ‘It is a wearisome illness to preserve one’s health by too strict a regimen.’ ”

 
That particular alumni homecoming was one of the most relaxing and rewarding venues for discussion, after all these years.

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” – La Rochefoucauld

La Rochefoucauld est connu pour ses maximes. A n’en pas douter, il était également visionnaire lorsqu’il énonçait que “Les seules bonnes copies sont celles qui nous font voir le ridicule des originaux“, faisant ainsi référence il me semble, mais peut-être me trompé-je, au vain combat de l’industrie de la culture qui rêve d’imposer par la loi (Hadopi) un contrôle faisant froid dans le dos.

Je vous invite au passage à lire les avis (très critiques) de la CNIL qui peuvent par moment révéler des organisations prévues par Hadopi qui font froid dans le dos (quand on propose que des personnes soient investies de pouvoirs de perquisitions – même si c’est numérique, et de saisies sans être aucunement assermentée, cela frise le concept de la milice…).

Heureusement que les maximes sont libres, elles.

Tudo já foi dito uma vez, mas como ninguém escuta é preciso dizer de novo. (André Gide)

Uma comissão consiste de uma reunião de pessoas importantes que, sozinhas, não podem fazer nada, mas que, juntas, decidem que nada pode ser feito. (Fred Allen)

O neurótico constrói um castelo no ar. O psicótico mora nele e o psiquiatra cobra o aluguel. (Jerome Lawrence)

Amizade é como café, uma vez frio nunca volta o sabor original, mesmo aquecido. (Kant)

Dificilmente encontramos pessoas de bom senso a não ser aqueles que concordam conosco. (La Rochefoucauld)

O pessimista se queixa do vento, o otimista espera que ele mude e o realista ajusta as velas. (Willian George Ward)

A diferença entre a genialidade e a estupidez é que a genialidade tem limite.

Raros são os homens dotados de bastante caráter para se regozijarem com os sucessos de um amigo sem uma sombra de inveja. (Ésquilo)

“Alle Fehler, die man hat, sind verzeihlicher als die Mittel, die man anwendet, um sie zu verbergen.”
(La Rochefoucauld)

De la société

La Rochefoucauld

Mon dessein n’est pas de parler de l’amitié en parlant de la société; bien qu’elles aient quelque rapport, elles sont néanmoins très différentes: la première a plus d’élévation et de dignité, et le plus grand mérite de l’autre, c’est de lui ressembler. Je ne parlerai donc présentement que du commerce particulier que les honnêtes gens doivent avoir ensemble.

Il serait inutile de dire combien la société est nécessaire aux hommes: tous la désirent et tous la cherchent, mais peu se servent des moyens de la rendre agréable et de la faire durer. Chacun veut trouver son plaisir et ses avantages aux dépens des autres; on se préfère toujours à ceux avec qui on se propose de vivre, et on leur fait presque toujours sentir cette préférence; c’est ce qui trouble et ce qui détruit la société. Il faudrait du moins savoir cacher ce désir de préférence, puisqu’il est trop naturel en nous pour nous en pouvoir défaire; il faudrait faire son plaisir et celui des autres, ménager leur amour-propre, et ne blesser jamais.

L’esprit a beaucoup de part à un si grand ouvrage, mais il ne suffit pas seul pour nous conduire dans les divers chemins qu’il faut tenir. Le rapport qui se rencontre entre les esprits ne maintiendrait pas longtemps la société, si elle n’était réglée et soutenue par le bon sens, par l’humeur et par des égards qui doivent être entre les personnes qui veulent vivre ensemble. S’il arrive quelquefois que des gens opposés d’humeur et d’esprit paraissent unis, ils tiennent sans doute par des liaisons étrangères, qui ne durent pas longtemps. On peut être aussi en société avec des personnes sur qui nous avons de la supériorité par la naissance ou par des qualités personnelles; mais ceux qui ont cet avantage n’en doivent pas abuser, ils doivent rarement le faire sentir, et ne s’en servir que pour instruire les autres; ils doivent les faire apercevoir qu’ils ont besoin d’être conduits, et les mener par raison, en s’accommodant autant qu’il est possible à leurs sentiments et à leurs intérêts.

De la société, La Rochefoucauld, Maximes, Édition de

J. Truchet, Paris Garnier Flammarion, 1967, p. 185-186.

De la sociedad.

La Rochefoucauld

Mi propósito no es hablar de la amistad hablando de la sociedad; aunque tengan alguna relación, son sin embargo muy diferentes: la primera tiene más elevación y dignidad, y el mérito más alto de la otra, es el de parecérsele. Yo no hablaría así pues actualmente más que del trato particular que la gente honesta debe tener entre sí.

Sería inútil decir cuán necesaria es la sociedad a los hombres: todos la desean y todos la buscan, pero pocos se sirven de los medios para volverla agradable y hacerla durar. Cada uno quiere encontrar su placer y sus ventajas a costa de los otros; nos preferimos siempre a aquellos con los que nos proponemos vivir, y les hacemos casi siempre sentir esta preferencia; eso es lo que trastorna y lo que destruye la sociedad. Habría al menos que saber esconder ese deseo de preferencia; ya que es demasiado natural en nosotros para nosotros poder deshacerlo; habría que hacer su deseo y el de los otros, cuidar su amor propio, y no herir jamás.

El espíritu tiene mucho que ver en una obra tan grande, pero no es suficiente sólo para conducirnos en los diversos caminos que se han de tomar. La relación que se encuentra entre los espíritus no mantendría mucho tiempo a la sociedad, si no estuviera reglada y sostenida por el buen sentido, por el humor y por respetos que deben existir entre las personas que quieren vivir juntas. Si pasa a veces que gente opuesta de humor y de espíritu parece unida, sin duda está ligada por lazos extraños, que no duran mucho tiempo. Se puede también estar en sociedad con personas sobre las que tenemos superioridad innatas o por cualidades personales; pero esos que tienen esa ventaja no deben abusar, deben raramente hacerlo sentir, y no servirse de ello más que para enseñar a los otros; deben hacerles percibir que tienen necesidad de ser conducidos, y dirigirlos con razón, acomodándose tanto como sea posible a sus sentimientos y a sus intereses.

De la sociedad, La Rochefoucauld, Máximas, Edición de

J. Truchet, Paris Garnier Flammarion, 1967, p. 185-186

]]> http://misiglo.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/la-avaricia-y-los-mercados-financieros/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:57:41 +0000 jjulio http://misiglo.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/la-avaricia-y-los-mercados-financieros/

“Le Monde”  (como ya dije en Mi Siglo el 13 de septiembre) continúa ofreciendo imágenes que nos puedan llevar a la lectura de” La Comedia humana” de Balzac y de nuevo muchas frases acuden aquí para comentar la avaricia (Si añadimos además la actualidad que nos arroja estos días los mercados financieros)

“La extremada avaricia – escribe, por ejemplo, La Rochefoucauld – se engaña casi siempre: no hay ninguna pasión que se aleje tanto de su fin, ni sobre la cual el presente tenga tanto poder en perjuicio del porvenir”.

“Muy a menudo la avaricia produce resultados contrarios – dice también La Rochefoucauld -; existe una cantidad infinita de gente que sacrifican todo su bien a esperanzas dudosas y lejanas; otras desprecian importantes ventajas futuras por pequeños intereses presentes”.

“Al pobre le faltan muchas cosas; pero al avaro, todas”.- recuerda Publio Siro en sus “Sentencias”.

“Por muy enterrado y guardado que tenga el avaro su dinero – escribe Antonio de Guevara en sus “Epístolas familiares” -, de nadie lo guarda tanto como lo guarda de sí mismo; porque si echa dos llaves al cofre para guardar, echa doscientas a su corazón para no gastar”.

Y reza la sabiduría de un Anónimo de este modo: “La avaricia es un continuo vivir en la pobreza por miedo a ser pobre”.

(Imagen: ilustración de “Le Monde” para el lanzamiento de “La Comedia humana” de Balzac)

“Os amantes apenas vêem os defeitos das amadas quando o seu encantamento acaba.”

La Rochefoucauld