11. One should either achieve distinction through things which depend not on others but on oneself alone, or else give up all claims to distinction: this is an invaluable maxim, of endless profit in practice, useful to the weak, the virtuous, the intelligent, whom it makes masters of their fortune or of their peace of mind: pernicious to great nobles, since it would diminish the number of their courtiers, or rather of their slaves; would bring down their pride while it impaired their authority, leaving them with practically nothing but their fancy dishes and their carriage and horses; would deprive them of the pleasure they get from being entreated, importuned, solicited, from keeping people waiting or denying them, from promising and then not giving; would thwart their taste for encouraging fools and mortifying merit, when they happen to recognize it; would banish from courts all cliques and cabals, all unjust dealings, all servility, flattery and deceitfulness; would make the storm and stress of a court full of cross-currents and intrigues seem like a comic or even a tragic play, of which wise men would merely be spectators; would restore dignity to the various conditions of men and serenity to their faces; would extend their freedom; would revive in them, with their natural talents, a habit of industry and occupation; would turn them from base courtiers, restless and useless and frequently a burden on the State, into prudent stewards, or excellent householders, or upright judges, or good officers, or great captains, or orators, or philosophers; and would bring them no other disadvantage than, perhaps, that of bequeathing good examples rather than great riches to their heirs.
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