The cleverest subtlety of all is knowing how to appear to fall into traps set for us; people are never caught so easily as when they are out to catch others.

La Rochefoucauld #117

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The intention never to deceive other people exposes us to frequent deceptions.

La Rochefoucauld #118

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Deceptive people rarely think of themselves as deceivers. When we feel duped by such people, we impute treacherous motives to them. But when we ourselves are accused of deception or treachery, we look into our own hearts and invariably find just cause for acting as we did.

Bayard Coll, Maxims

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See also Gracian¹s stament: "If you can¹t be a lion, wear the skin of a fox."