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1 " A wise man will always allow a fool to rob him of ideas without yelling “Thief.”If he is wise he has not been impoverished.Nor has the fool been enriched.The thief flatters us by stealing.We flatter him by complaining. "
― Ben Hecht , A Child of the Century
2 " I know that a man who tries to convert me to any causeis actually at work on his own conversion,unless he is looking for funds under the mask of some fancied nobility. "
3 " A wise man will not trust too much those who admire him, even for his wisdom. He knows that an admirer is never truly satisfied until he can substitute pity for his admiration and disdain for his applause. Our admirers are always on the lookout for evidence of our collapse. They find a solace in the fact that our superiority was transitory and that we end as they do—old and useless. "
4 " I know that man who shows me his wealthis like the beggar who shows me his poverty;they are both looking for alms from me,the rich man for the alms of my envy,the poor one for the alms of my guilt. "
5 " I noticed early that pompous people have actually less a high opinion of themselvesthan a desire to create such an opinion in others. "