The Art of Worldly Wisdom(59)

Finish off well. In the house of Fortune, if you enter by the gate of pleasure you must leave by that of sorrow, and vice versâ. You ought therefore to think of the finish, and attach more importance to a graceful exit than to applause on entrance. It is the common lot of the unlucky to have a very fortunate outset and a very tragic end. The important point is not the vulgar applause on entrance—that comes to nearly all—but the general feeling at exit. Few in life are felt to deserve an encore. Fortune rarely accompanies anyone to the door: warmly as she may welcome the coming, she is cold to the parting guest.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />