the reason of the perfection of beauty, for
of whatever stature a thing may be, it cannot be beautiful and perfect
unless it be truly that she should be, and possess truly all that she
should have (1665, No. 260.)

[Beauty is truth, truth beauty.{--John Keats, "Ode on a a Grecian Urn,"
(1820), Stanza 5}]

LII.--There are fine things which are more brilliant when unfinished
than when finished too much. (1665, No. 262.)

LIII.--Magnanimity is a noble effort of pride which makes a man master
of himself, to make him master of all things. (1665, No. 271.)

LIV.--Luxury and too refined a policy in states are a sure presage of
their fall, because all parties looking after their own interest turn
away from the public good. (1665, No. 282.)

LV.--Of all passions that which is least known to us is idleness; she
is the most ardent and evil of all, although her violence may be
insensible, and the evils she causes concealed; if we consider her
power attentively we shall find that in all encounters she makes herself
mistress of our sentiments, our interests, and our pleasures; like the
(fabled) Remora, she can stop the greatest vessels, she is a hidden
rock, more dangerous in the most important matters than sudden squalls
and the most violent tempests. The repose of idleness is a magic charm
which suddenly suspends the most ardent pursuits and the most obstinate
resolutions. In fact to give a true notion of this passion we must add
that idleness, like a beatitude of the soul, consoles us for all losses
and fills the vacancy of all our wants. (1665, No. 290.)

LVI.--We are very fond of reading others' characters, but we do not like
to be read ourselves. (1665, No. 296.)

LVII.--What a tiresome malady is that which forces one to preserve your
health by a severe regimen. (Ibid, No. 298.)

LVIII.--It is much easier to take love when one is free, than to get rid
of it after having taken it. (1665, No. 300.)

LIX.--Women for the most part surrender themselves more from weakness
than from passion. Whence it is that bold and pushing men succeed better
than others, although they are not so loveable. (1665, No. 301.)

LX.--Not to love is in love, an infallible means of being beloved.
(1665, No. 302.)

LXI.--The sincerity which lovers and mistresses ask that both should
know when they cease to love each other, arises much less from a wish
to be warned of the cessation of love, than from a desire to be assured
that they are beloved