Four from Uncle Albert

 Four from Uncle Albert, 

Henry James by Sargent
La Rochefoucauld is trying to convince
him that brevity is the soul of wit.

. . . who continues to work on sentences after the manner of his hero La Rochefoucauld.

 “Unsuccessfully,” he would add.

Piety and grace do not go hand-in-hand.

Suspicion will always outrun proof.

“The gods are just” - one of those things we can’t not believe even when we know it’s untrue.

We can’t face the misery we inflict on others. If we did, we’d be as miserable as we’ve made them.*

09.26.18

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 * Coming soon, a complete list of Uncle Albert’s maxims on such matters as on avoiding hypocrisy, buying votes, chronic bowel obstruction, meanness and narcissism, those without secrets, and having the wrong numbers.