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There are expressions and successful projections of the spirit; there are aphorisms, a small handful of words, in which an entire culture, an entire society, suddenly crystallizes. Among these belongs that remark Madame de Lambert made at some point to her son: "Mon ami, ne vous permettez jamais que de folies, qui vous feront grand plaisir" [My dear, never allow yourself anything but those follies which will bring you great pleasure] - which is, by the way, the most motherly and cleverest remark that has ever been directed to a son.