We are all of us susceptible to the good opinions of others, and
sometimes we are apt to fall into the bad habit of lauding ourselves.
An illustration of this is seen in the following:
Once when Moltke heard himself compared to Cæsar, Turenne,
Marlborough, Wellington, and others, he remarked: “No; I have
no right to rank with such great captains, for I have never
commanded a retreat”--which at the same time conveyed a subtle
compliment to himself. Bismarck was equally subtle when he was
asked whom he thought to have been the ablest plenipotentiary
at the Congress of Berlin. “I don’t know about the ablest,” he
replied with a grim smile, “but the next ablest was certainly
Lord Beaconsfield.” (Text.)
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