1.

Everything is at its peak of perfection. This is especially true of the art of making one's way in the world. There is more required nowadays to make a single wise person than formerly to make the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, and more is needed nowadays to deal with a single person than was required with a whole people in former times.

2.

Character and intellect. These are the two poles of our capacity; one without the other is but halfway to happiness. Intellect is not enough, character is also needed. On the other hand, it is the fool's misfortune to fail in obtaining the position, employment, neighborhood, and circle of friends of his choice.

3.

Keep matters for a time in suspense. Admiration at their novelty heightens the value of your achievements. It is both useless and insipid to play with your cards on the table. If you do not declare yourself immediately, you arouse expectation, especially when the importance of your position makes you the object of general attention. Mix a little mystery with everything, and the very mystery arouses veneration. And when you explain, do not be too explicit, just as you do not expose your inmost thoughts in ordinary conversation. Cautious silence is the sacred sanctuary of worldly wisdom. A resolution declared is never highly thought of—it only leaves room for criticism. And if it happens to fail, you are doubly unfortunate. Besides, you imitate the divine way when you inspire people to wonder and watch.

4.

Knowledge and courage. These are the elements of greatness. Because they are immortal they bestow immortality. Each is as much as he knows, and the wise can do anything. A person without knowledge is in a world without light. Wisdom and strength are the eyes and the hands. Knowledge without courage is sterile.

5.

Make people depend on you. It is not he that adorns but he that adores that makes a divinity. The wise person would rather see others needing him than thanking him. To keep them on the threshold of hope is diplomatic, to trust to their gratitude is boorish; hope has a good memory, gratitude a bad one. More is to be got from dependence than from courtesy. He that has satisfied his thirst turns his back on the well, and the orange once squeezed falls from the golden platter into the waste basket. When dependence disappears good behavior goes with it, as well as respect. Let it be one of the chief lessons of experience to keep hope alive without entirely satisfying, by preserving it to make oneself always needed, even by a patron on the throne. But do not carry silence in excess or you will go wrong, nor let another's failing grow incurable for the sake of your own advantage.

6.

A person at his peak. We are not born perfect. Every day we develop in our personality and in our profession until we reach the highest point of our completed being, to the full round of our accomplishments and of our excellences. This is known by the purity of our taste, the clearness of our thought, the maturity of our judgment, and the firmness of our will. Some never arrive at being complete—something is always lacking. Others ripen late. The complete person—wise in speech, prudent in act—is admitted to the familiar intimacy of discreet people and is even sought out by them.

7.

Avoid outshining your superiors. All victories breed hate, and that over your superior is foolish or fatal. Preeminence is always detested, especially over those who are in high positions. Caution can gloss over common advantages. For example, good looks may be cloaked by careless attire. There are some that will grant you superiority in good luck or good temper, but none in good sense, least of all a prince—for good sense is a royal prerogative and any claim of superiority in that is a crime against majesty. They are princes, and wish to be so in that most princely of qualities. They will allow someone to help them but not to surpass them. So make any advice given to them appear like a recollection of something they have only forgotten rather than as a guide to something they cannot find. The stars teach us this finesse with happy tact; though they are his children and brilliant like him, they never rival the brilliance of the sun.

8.

Be without passions. This is the highest quality of the mind. The very eminence redeems us from being affected by transient and low impulses. There is no higher rule than that over oneself, over one's impulses; there is no higher triumph than over your free will. When passion rules your character do not let it threaten your position, especially if it is a high one. It is the only refined way of avoiding trouble and the shortest way back to a good reputation.

9.

Avoid the faults of your nation. Water shares the good and bad qualities of the channels through which it flows and people share those of the climate in which they are born. Some owe more than others to their native land, because there is a more favorable sky in the zenith. There is not a nation among even the most civilized that has not some fault peculiar to itself that other nations blame by way of boast or as a warning. It is a triumph of cleverness to correct oneself in such failings, or even to hide them. You get a great credit for being unique among your fellows because what is less expected is esteemed all the more. There are also family failings as well as faults of positions, of office, or of age. If these all meet in one person and are not carefully guarded against, they make an intolerable monster.

10.

Fortune and fame. Where the one is fickle and the other is enduring. The first is for life, the second is for the next; fortune against envy, fame against oblivion. Fortune is desired, and sometimes nurtured, but fame is earned. The desire for fame springs from virtue. Fame was and is the sister of the giants; it always goes to the extremes—either horrible monsters or brilliant prodigies.