Thisopinionandcommonusagetoobserveothersmorethanourselveshasverymuchrelievedusthatway:’tisaverydispleasingobject:wecanthereseenothingbutmiseryandvanity:nature，thatwemaynotbedejectedwiththesightofourowndeformities，haswiselythrusttheactionofseeingoutward。Wegoforwardwiththecurrent，buttoturnbacktowardsourselvesisapainfulmotion;soistheseamovedandtroubledwhenthewavesrushagainstoneanother。Observe，sayseveryone，themotionsoftheheavens，ofpublicaffairs;observethequarrelofsuchaperson，takenoticeofsuchaone’spulse，ofsuchanother’slastwillandtestament;insum，bealwayslookinghighorlow，ononeside，beforeorbehindyou。ItwasaparadoxicalcommandancientlygivenusbythatgodofDelphos:\"Lookintoyourself;discoveryourself;keepclosetoyourself;callbackyourmindandwill，thatelsewhereconsumethemselvesintoyourself;yourunout，youspillyourself;carryamoresteadyhand:menbetrayyou，menspillyou，menstealyoufromyourself。
Dostthounotseethatthisworldweliveinkeepsallitssightconfinedwithin，anditseyesopentocontemplateitself？’Tisalwaysvanityforthee，bothwithinandwithout;but’tislessvanitywhenlessextended。
Exceptingthee，Oman，saidthatgod，everythingstudiesitselffirst，andhasboundstoitslaboursanddesires，accordingtoitsneed。Thereisnothingsoemptyandnecessitousasthou，whoembracesttheuniverse;
thouarttheinvestigatorwithoutknowledge，themagistratewithoutjurisdiction，and，afterall，thefoolofthefarce。
EndTheEssaysofMontaigne，V18