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About this quote

What does it mean?
Arrogance can be mistaken for innocence or modesty by outsiders.
In plain terms
A modest look can hide arrogance.
What can you take from it?
Appearances hide internal states.

Where it applies

  • social interaction
  • character study
  • judgment

Putting it to work

  • observe strangers
  • judge carefully

Questions to consider

  • What does he truly think?
  • How well do you know others?

Another view

Modesty is not always a facade.

More from Simone De Beauvoir

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  2. One day I'll be old, dead, forgotten. And at this very moment, while I'm sitting here thinking these things, a man in a dingy hotel room is thinking, 'I will a…

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  3. You made me come to Paris. You pestered me to start living again. Well, now it's up to you to make my life livable. You mustn't let three whole days go by with…

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