stows upon their temper.

18.--Moderation is caused by the fear of exciting the envy and contempt
which those merit who are intoxicated with their good fortune; it is a
vain display of our strength of mind, and in short the moderation of men
at their greatest height is only a desire to appear greater than their
fortune.

19.--We have all sufficient strength to support the misfortunes of
others.

[The strongest example of this is the passage in Lucretius, lib. ii.,
line I:-- "Suave mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis E terra magnum
alterius spectare laborem."]

20.--The constancy of the wise is only the talent of concealing the
agitation of their hearts.

[Thus wisdom is only hypocrisy, says a commentator. This definition of
constancy is a result of maxim 18.]

21.--Those who are condemned to death affect sometimes a constancy and
contempt for death which is only the fear of facing it; so that one may
say that this constancy and contempt are to their mind what the bandage
is to their eyes.

[See this thought elaborated in maxim 504.]

22.--Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils; but
present evils triumph over it.

23.--Few people know death, we only endure it, usually from
determination, and even from stupidity and custom; and most men only die
because they know not how to prevent dying.

24.--When great men permit themselves to be cast down by the continuance
of misfortune, they show us that they were only sustained by ambition,
and not by their mind; so that PLUS a great vanity, heroes are made like
other men.

[Both these maxims have been rewritten and made conciser by the author;
the variations are not worth quoting.]

25.--We need greater virtues to sustain good than evil fortune.

["Prosperity do{th} best discover vice, but adversity do{th} best
discover virtue."--Lord Bacon, Essays{, (1625), "Of Adversity"}.]

{The quotation wrongly had "does" for "doth".}

26.--Neither the sun nor death can be looked at without winking.

27.--People are often vain of their passions, even of the worst, but
envy is a passion so timid and shame-faced that no one ever dare avow
her.

28.--Jealousy is in a manner just and reasonable, as it tends to
preserve a good which belongs, or which we believe belongs to us, on the
other hand envy is a fury which cannot endure the happiness of others.

29.--The evil that we do does not attract to us so much persecution and
hat