In Paris, when they see you getting ready to mount a horse, one will help you mount, another will wait under the horse's belly for you to fall and break your head; a third will take the horseshoes off the horse, and a fourth will take your whip. The most honest of these will be the one who approaches you with a pistol in his hand to shoot you in the chest.

You have talent, my son, and you will soon understand what a terrible and inseparable struggle the mediocre man wages with those above him. If you lose 25 luidoros in the evening, the next day you will be accused of being a gambler, and your best friends will tell you that you have lost 25,000 francs.

If you have a headache, they will say you are going insane. If you can get away with harsh words, they will immediately say that you are a person with whom no one can get along. If you are strong and determined during the war with this army of pygmies, your best friends will start screaming and saying that anyone can't stand near you, that you want to rule, command others, etc.

In a word, all your values will become faults, vices, and your charities will become crimes.

Honoré de Balzac