TO BEWARE OF ONE'S PORTRAIT-PAINTER.--A great painter, who in a portrait has revealed and put on canvas the fullest expression and look of which a man is capable, will almost always think, when he sees the man later in real life, that he is only looking at a caricature.
THE TWO PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW LIFE.--_First Principle_: to arrange one's life on the most secure and tangible basis, not as hitherto upon the most distant, undetermined, and cloudy foundation. _Second Principle_: to establish the rank of the nearest and nearer things, and of the more and less secure, before one arranges one's life and directs it to a final end.
DANGEROUS IRRITABILITY.--Talented men who are at the same time _idle_ will always appear somewhat irritated when one of their friends has accomplished a thorough piece of work. Their jealousy is awakened, they are ashamed of their own laziness, or rather, they fear that their active friend will now despise them even more than before. In such a mood they criticise the new achievement, and, to the utter astonishment of the author, their criticism becomes a revenge.
DESTRUCTIONS OF ILLUSIONS.--Illusions are certainly expensive amusements; but the destruction of illusions is still more expensive, if looked upon as an amusement, as it undoubtedly is by some people.
THE MONOTONE OF THE "SAGE."--Cows sometimes have a look of wondering which stops short on the path to questioning. In the eye of the higher intelligence, on the other hand, the _nil admirari_ is spread out like the monotony of the cloudless sky.
NOT TO BE ILL TOO LONG.--We should beware of being ill too long. The lookers-on become impatient of their customary duty of showing sympathy, because they find it too much trouble to maintain the appearance of this emotion for any length of time. Then they immediately pass to suspicion of our character, with the conclusion: "You deserve to be ill, and we need no longer be at pains to show our sympathy."
A HINT TO ENTHUSIASTS.--He who likes to be carried away, and would fain be carried on high, must beware lest he become too heavy. For instance, he must not learn much, and especially not let himself be crammed with science. Science makes men ponderous--take care, ye enthusiasts!