The cunningest dissimulation is when a man pretends to be caught in the traps others set for him; and a man is never so easily over-reached as when he is contriving to over-reach others.
Francois de La RochefoucauldThat which makes the vanity of others unbearable to us is that which wounds our own.
Francois de La RochefoucauldSelf-interest speaks all manner of tongues and plays all manner of parts, even that of disinterestedness.
Francois de La RochefoucauldThose who are overreached by our cunning are far from appearing to us as ridiculous as we appear to ourselves when the cunning of others has overreached us.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld