232 Of THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. [XXIII. 19. 



with whom they discourse most. General fame is light, 

 and the opinions conceived by superiors or equals are 

 deceitful; for to such men are more masked: Verior 

 fama e domestids emanat. 



20. But the soundest disclosing and expounding of 

 men is by their natures and ends, wherein the weakest 

 sort of men are best interpreted by their natures, and the 

 wisest by their ends. For it was both pleasantly and 

 wisely said (though I think very untruly) by a nuncio 

 of the pope, returning from a certain nation where he 

 served as lidger; whose opinion being asked touching 

 the appointment of one to go in his place, he wished 

 that in any case they did not send one that was too wise ; 

 because no very wise man would ever imagine what they 

 in that country were like to do. And certainly it is an 

 error frequent for men to shoot over, and to suppose 

 deeper ends, and more compass reaches than are: the 

 Italian proverb being elegant, and for the most part true : 



Di danari, di senno, e di fede, 

 C e ne manco che non credi: 



There is commonly less money, less wisdom, and less 

 good faith than men do account upon. 



21. But princes, upon a far other reason, are best 

 interpreted by their natures, and private persons by their 

 ends. For princes being at the top of human desires, 

 they have for the most part no particular ends whereto 

 they aspire, by distance from which a man mought take 

 measure and scale of the rest of their actions and desires ; 

 which is one of the causes that maketh their hearts more 

 inscrutable. Neither is it sufficient to inform ourselves 

 in men s ends and natures of the variety of them only, 

 but also of the predominancy, what humour reigneth 



