you know how little he appreciates you; and his wish is dictated by
hatred, which cannot exist with real contempt. On the contrary, if it
is genuine, it is simply the conviction that the object of it is a man
of no value at all. Contempt is not incompatible with indulgent and
kindly treatment, and for the sake of one's own peace and safety, this
should not be omitted; it will prevent irritation; and there is no
one who cannot do harm if he is roused to it. But if this pure, cold,
sincere contempt ever shows itself, it will be met with the most
truculent hatred; for the despised person is not in a position to
fight contempt with its own weapons.

* * * * *

Melancholy is a very different thing from bad humor, and of the two,
it is not nearly so far removed from a gay and happy temperament.
Melancholy attracts, while bad humor repels.

Hypochondria is a species of torment which not only makes us
unreasonably cross with the things of the present; not only fills us
with groundless anxiety on the score of future misfortunes entirely
of our own manufacture; but also leads to unmerited self-reproach for
what we have done in the past.

Hypochondria shows itself in a perpetual hunting after things that vex
and annoy, and then brooding over them. The cause of it is an inward
morbid discontent, often co-existing with a naturally restless
temperament. In their extreme form, this discontent and this unrest
lead to suicide.

* * * * *