My rating: 3 stars.

This was an impulse buy based on my love for Oxford World’s Classics paperbacks. I hadn’t heard of the author before, but after a few quick peeks around the ‘net, I found it interesting. I’m glad to have read the book and it’s neat that it’s a dual-language edition, with the original French on the left and a new English translation on the right. It lets me try to practice my French and also enjoy the translation process.

As for the work itself, there were several maxims I really liked. I list some below. I also enjoyed several of his Miscellaneous Reflections (Réflexions diverses), first completely translated in this volume. His reflections on Conversation (RD #4) was the best, an early example of the art of listening and interacting with people rather than pontificating at them and waiting to speak.

  • If we had no faults, we would not derive so much pleasure from noting those of other people. (#31)
  • We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves from other people, that in the end we disguise ourselves from ourselves. (#119)
  • We often do good so that we can do evil with impunity. (#121)
  • The glory of great men should always be measured against the means they used to acquire it. (#157)
  • When our hatred is too intense, it puts us on a lower level than those we hate. (#338)
  • Average minds usually condemn whatever is beyond their grasp. (#375)
  • Most friends make us lose our taste for friendship, and most pious people make us lose our taste for piety. (#427)
  • We try to pride ourselves on the faults that we do not want to correct. (#442)
  • Our enemies’ judgements of us are nearer the truth than our own. (#458)
  • When you cannot find peace within yourself, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. (#49, withdrawn after 2nd ed.)