Chamfort has been unjustly ignored in the English speaking world. I believe that in quality and wit, he easily stands next to the "Maxims" of the more famous La Rochefoucauld. Comparing him with La Rochefoucauld I found that Chamfort emerges as less cynical without being more naive - no small achievement. Chamfort remains playful, without missing a balanced dose of healthy scepticism about humanity.
It is impossible to get bored when reading through this selection. I had to force myself to read it at a slower pace so that it won't end. It is exceptionally funny, subtle, but can also be profound and prudent. I'll let some selections talk for themselves:A man was drinking an excellent wine and made no comment on it. His host then served him some very ordinary wine. 'That's quite a nice wine,' commented the unforthcoming guest. 'It's the cheapest I could get and the first one was absolute nectar of the gods.' exclaimed the host.
'Of course it was,' replied his friend, 'that's why I didn't praise it. This is the one that needs support.'
'You're yawning', a wife said to her husband.'Ah, my dear,' he replied, 'don't you know that husband and wife are one flesh - and when I'm alone, I get bored.' If you want to make a good impression in society, you have to submit to being told all sorts of things you already know by people who don't even know them themselves. To describe his contempt for someone, M... had a pet expression: 'He's next to the lowest of the low.' Asked why he didn't say 'the lowest', he replied:'Because I don't want to discourage anyone. There's a very long queue.' It's generally held that the best way to achieve success is to be agreeable. But an infinite capacity to be bored gives far better results; making money as well as success with women can be reduced almost entirely to this gift. We're happy or unhappy for a host of unseen reasons which are never mentioned and never can be mentioned. Someone asked a bishop to lend him his house in the country, which he never went to himself. The bishop said:'Don't you know that we must always have a place where we never go but where we think we'd be happy if we did?' The man thought for a moment and replied:'You're right. And that's the reason why people find the idea of paradise so attractive.' A man was boasting: I've only ever committed one bad action in my whole life.'
'And when's it going to end?' enquired M... --------- Need we say more?
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