Quotes from Astolphe de Custine

As long as we speak only in response to other people's disapproving silence, and as long as our words are but an apology, we ourselves are unable to judge the world fairly. Our life is an enigma to others, but their lives are an enigma to us, and our attempts to communicate with them are futile: we see them always as an audience, and in their eyes we are actors. No mind or character can withstand such false relations. They affect not only our behaviour but also our most intimate feelings.

In order to be polite, it is necessary to have something to give. Politeness is the art of doing to others the honours of the advantages we possess, whether of our minds, our riches, our rank, our standing, or any other source of enjoyment. To be polite, is to know how to offer and to accept with grace; but when a person has nothing certain of his own, he cannot give any thing.

Vous valez pour moi tout un public, car il y a un monde en vous.