Foolishness is when you commit a foolish act and do not hide it

Foolishness is when you commit a foolish act and do not hide it

cxxvi

Folly is not in committing folly, but in not hiding it when one commits folly.

You should seal your desires and further seal your faults. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, but the wise man tries to hide his mistakes, while the fool boasts of them. Reputation is determined more by what one hides than by what one does. If one does not live chastely, he must live vigilantly. The mistakes of great men are like the eclipse of a greater light. Even in friendship, it is rare to expose one's mistakes to one's friends. No, we should hide them from ourselves if we can. But here is where another great rule of life helps: learn to forget.

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