288

There are men who are unavoidably intellectual, let them turn and twist themselves as they will, and hold their hands before their treacherous eyes⁠—as though the hand were not a betrayer; it always comes out at last that they have something which they hide⁠—namely, intellect. One of the subtlest means of deceiving, at least as long as possible, and of successfully representing oneself to be stupider than one really is⁠—which in everyday life is often as desirable as an umbrella⁠—is called enthusiasm , including what belongs to it, for instance, virtue. For as Galiani said, who was obliged to know it: vertu est enthousiasme .