ALCESTE: Esteem is founded on comparison:
To honor all men is to honor none.
[Sur quelque préférence une estime se fonde,
Et c’est n’estimer rien qu’estimer tout le monde.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 1, sc. 1 (1666) [tr. Wilbur (1954)]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Preference must be based on esteem, and to esteem every one is to esteem no one.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]Esteem must be founded on some preference, and to esteem all the world is to esteem no one.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]Esteem is based on preference; to esteem the whole world alike is to feel no esteem for anyone.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]Preference is based on esteem, and to esteem every one is not to esteem anyone.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Real love must rest upon some preference;
You might as well love none, as everybody.
[tr. Page (1913)]But true esteem is based on preference;
Esteeming everyone, you esteem nothing.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]Esteem, if it be real, means preference,
And when bestowed on all it makes no sense.
[tr. Frame (1967)]On some preference esteem is based; to esteem everything is to esteem nothing.
[E.g. (1968)]
Quotations about:
compliments
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One odd thing about foreign-policy professionals is that for all their sophistication, they tend to think the way to communicate with allies and potential allies is to compliment and sooth, compliment and soothe. But that isn’t polite, it’s patronizing, and to patronize is to insult. Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It’s how true friends talk.
Never fish for praise; it is not worth the bait.
James Burgh (1714-1775) British politician and writer
The Dignity of Human Nature, Sec. 5 “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Prudence in Conversation” (1754)
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