愚蠢并非做了蠢事，而在于做后不知掩饰。不要暴露你的欲望，要隐藏你的缺点。人人都难免犯错，区别在于智者试图隐藏自己的错误，愚人却会肆意张扬他们的错误。与其说名声取决于人做出的成绩，不如说取决于人所隐藏的过错。假如你不能保证自己一尘不染，就一定要审慎而行。大人物的过错，如日食月食，每个人都能看见。不要将自己的过失全部透露给朋友，如果可以的话，也要向自己隐瞒。另一处世法宝也同样有用：学会忘记。
folly consists not in committing folly, but in not hiding it when committed. you should keep your desires sealed up, still more your defects. all go wrong sometimes, but the wise try to hide the errors, but fools boast of them. reputation depends more on what is hidden than on what is done; if a man does not live chastely, he must live cautiously. the errors of great men are like the eclipses of the greater lights. even in friendship it is rare to expose one's failings to one's friend. nay, one should conceal them from oneself if one can. but here one can help with that other great rule of life: learn to forget.
