(seq. 50)

[90]

the contrary, because I
think, I do not exagerate my
partialities; - I think I take
faults with excellences;
blemishes together with beauties.

And beside in the matter
of Friendship, I have observed
that disappointment here arises
chiefly, not from liking our
friends too well, or of thinking
of them too highly, but rather of
from an overestimate of their
liking for & opinion of us; and
if we guard ourselves with
sufficient scrupulousness of care
from error in this direction,
and can be content, & even
happy, to give more affection
than we receive, can make
just comparison of circum
stance, & be severely accurate
in drawing inferences thence
and never let self love
blind our eyes, I think we
may manage to get through
life with consistency & con-
stancy, unembittered by
that misanthropy, which
springs from revulsion of feeling.

[91]

All this sounds a little
metaphysical, but it is good
sense if you consider it.

The moral of it is, that if
we would build on a sure
foundation in friendship, we
must love our friends for
their sakes, rather than for
our own; we must look at
their truth to themselves, full
as much as their truth to us.

In the latter case, every wound
to self love would be a cause
of coldness; in the former,
only some painful change
in the friend's character, disposition --
some fearful break in his
allegiance to his better self --
could alienate the heart. --
_________

Villette

"Life is so constructed
that the event does not, cannot,
will not match the expectation" --