Aphorism #88 Let your Behaviour be Fine and Noble

"A great man ought not to be little in his behaviour. He ought never to pry too minutely into things, least of all in unpleasant matters. For though it is important to know all, it is not necessary to know all about all. One ought to act in such cases with the generosity of a gentleman, conduct worthy of a gallant man. To overlook forms a large part of the work of ruling. Most things must be left unnoticed among relatives and friends, and even among enemies. All superfluity is annoying, especially in things that annoy. To keep hovering around the object of your annoyance is a kind of mania. Generally speaking, every man behaves according to his heart and his understanding." - Balthasar Gracian's "The Art of Worldly Wisdom"

His conduct, no less than the affairs in which he participates, must be fine and noble, he who is great. It disgraces him, the worthy heart and enlightened mind who he is, to be poor in thought, mean in speech and feeble in deed. It befits rather the lowly. For it is through behaviour that he sculpts his character, and it is lofty character which makes him a great man.