n
it; swindlers, who know perfectly well they will never pay you back a
penny. Elbow your way out of all those frauds--poseurs, spongers,
leeches, fleas, and bugs--who try to fasten themselves to you.

Be generous, and help a friend in need; devote a reasonable portion of
your income to the hospitals, charitable institutions, and the sufferers
from public calamities; after that, attend to yourself and to all those
who live around you and depend on you for their comfort and happiness.

Bang your door in the face of people who, in your hour of success, come
to treat you with a few patronizing sneers in order to take down your
pride. Kick down your stairs, even if you live on the tenth floor, the
man with an alcoholic breath who calls to tell you that, as you are a
fortunate man, it is your duty, and should be your pleasure, to help
those who have no luck.

Life is too short to allow you to play the part of a friend to the whole
human race. Concern yourself about interesting and deserving people;
cultivate the friendship of pleasant men and women, who brighten up your
life, and that of useful ones, who may occasionally give you the lift
you deserve. Attend to your business; carefully watch over the interests
of those who have a right to expect you to keep them in comfort, and
dismiss the rest, even from your thoughts.

CHAPTER XI

ADVICE-GIVING

Advice is a piece of luxury thoroughly enjoyed by the one who gives it.
If you want to be popular with your friends, do them all the good turns
you can. Lend them your money if you have a surplus to spare, and which
you can comfortably make up your mind to the loss of, but give them
advice when they ask you for it.

People who are lavish of advice are seldom guilty of any other act of
generosity. If, however, you cannot resist the temptation of
advice-giving, be sure, at least, that you give it in time. People who
keep on saying to their friends, 'I told you so,' are the most
aggravating bores in the world.

If a little boy wants to venture on a dangerous piece of ice, give him a
warning and advise him not to go, but if he disregards your advice and
falls into a hole, rescue him and wait until he is quite well again
before you say to him, 'I told you so.'

Of all your best friends, your wife is the last person to whom you
should say, 'I told you so.' These four words have killed happiness in
matrimonial life more than any number of blasphemous words put
together