Before We Set Our Hearts

What Makes False Reckoning, As Regards Gratitude, Is That The Pride Of The Giver And The Receiver Cannot Agree As To The Value Of The Benefit.

Men Frequently Do Good Only To Give Themselves Opportunity Of Doing Ill With Impunity.

We Sometimes Differ More Widely From Ourselves Than We Do From Others.

Men Are Not Only Prone To Forget Benefits; They Even Hate Those Who Have Obliged Them, And Cease To Hate Those Who Have Injured Them. The Necessity Of Revenging An Injury, Or Of Recompensing A Benefit Seems A Slavery To Which They Are Unwilling To Submit.

Truth Does Not Do As Much Good In The World As Its Imitations Do Harm.