Know what insinuation is, and how to use it

It is the subtlest point in your dealings with others. It can be used to test the wits and cunningly probe the heart. Some insinuation is malicious, careless, tinged with the herbs of envy, smeared with the poison of passion : an invisible lightning bolt that can knock you from grace and esteem. Some people owe their downfall to a single wounding, insinuating word. Those who expelled them from power showed not the slightest fear before an entire conspiracy of common murmuring and singular malevolence. Other insinuations — favorable ones — do the opposite, shoring up our reputation. But we should catch these darts as skillfully as they are hurled at us by evil intention : catch them carefully, await them prudently. A good defense requires knowledge. When we expect a blow we can ward it off.