"We should not be upset that others..." - Quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld
We should not be upset that others hide the truth from us, when we hide it so often from ourselves.
More by Francois De La Rochefoucauld
“He is a truly virtuous man who wishes always to be open to the observation of honest men.”
“When we exaggerate our friends' tenderness towards us, it is often less from gratitude than from a desire to exhibit our own virtue.”
“We only confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no big ones.”
More on Self Deception
“We run heedlessly into the abyss after putting something in front of us to stop us from seeing it.”
“The real trouble is that 'kindness' is a quality fatally easy to attribute to ourselves on quite inadequate grounds. Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that 'his heart's in the right place' and 'he wouldn't hurt a fly,' though in fact he has never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature. We think we are kind when we are only happy: it is not so easy, on the same grounds, to imagine oneself temperate, chaste, or humble.”
“We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible.”
More on Deception
“When we see an effect happen always in the same manner, we infer that it takes place by a natural necessity; as, for instance, that the sun will rise to morrow; but nature often deceives us, and will not submit to its own rules.”
“This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,Was once thought honest.”
“Do not be ashamed to give a little; for to deceive is to give still less.”