Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.

We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk about ourselves at all.

What makes the vanity of others insupportable is that it wounds our own

We say little if not egged on by vanity. [Fr., On parle peu quand la vanite ne fait pas parler.]

That which makes the vanity of others unbearable to us is that which wounds our own. [Fr., Ce qui nous rend la vanite des autres insupportable, c'est qu'elle blesse la notre.]

True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary.