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The Reserved, who depreciate their own qualities, have the

appearance of being more refined in their characters, because

they are not thought to speak with a view to gain but to avoid

grandeur: one very common trait in such characters is their

denying common current opinions, as Socrates used to do. There

are people who lay claim falsely to small things and things the

falsity of their pretensions to which is obvious; these are

called Factotums and are very despicable.

This very Reserve sometimes shows like Exaggeration; take, for

instance, the excessive plainness of dress affected by the

Lacedaemonians: in fact, both excess and the extreme of

deficiency partake of the nature of Exaggeration. But they who

practise Reserve in moderation, and in cases in which the truth

is not very obvious and plain, give an impression of refinement.

Here it is the Exaggerator (as being the worst character) who

appears to be opposed to the Truthful Man.

Chapter X.