44 JEROME CARDAN 



am inclined, as far as it may be allowed, to say with 

 respect to all of them, yvu>dt a-cavTov. 



" My own nature in sooth was never a mystery to 

 myself. I was ever hot-tempered, single-minded, and 

 given to women. From these cardinal tendencies there 

 proceeded truculence of temper, wrangling, obstinacy, 

 rudeness of carriage, anger, and an inordinate desire, or 

 rather a headstrong passion, for revenge in respect to 

 any wrong done to me ; so that this inclination, which 

 is censured by many, became to me a delight. To put 

 it briefly, I held At vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa. 

 As a general rule I went astray but seldom, though it is 

 a common saying, ' Natura nostra prona est ad malum' 

 I am moreover truthful, mindful of benefits wrought to 

 me, a lover of justice and of my own people, a despiser 

 of money, a worshipper of that fame which defies death, 

 prone to thrust aside what is commonplace, and still 

 more disposed to treat mere trifles in the same way. 

 Still, knowing well how great may be the power of little 

 things at any moment during the course of an under- 

 taking, I never make light of aught which may be use- 

 ful. By nature I am prone to every vice and ill-doing 

 except ambition, and I, if no one else does, know my 

 own imperfections. But because of my veneration for 

 God, and because I recognize the vanity and emptiness 

 of all things of this sort, it often happens that, of my 

 own free will, I forego certain opportunities for taking 

 revenge which may be offered to me. I am timid, with 

 a cold heart and a hot brain, given to reflection and the 

 consideration of things many and mighty, and even of 

 things which can never come to pass. I can even let my 

 thoughts concern themselves with two distinct subjects 

 at the same time. Those who throw out charges of 

 garrulity and extravagance by way of contradicting any 



