Aphorism #41 Never Exaggerate.

[Admin]

Aphorism #41 Never Exaggerate.

It is an important object of attention not to talk in superlatives, so as neither to offend against truth nor to give a mean idea of one's understanding. Exaggeration is a prodigality of the judgment which shows the narrowness of one's knowledge or one's taste. Praise arouses lively curiosity, begets desire, and if afterwards the value does not correspond to the price, as generally happens, expectation revolts againstthe deception, and revenges itself by under-estimating the thing recommended and the person recommending. A prudent man goes more cautiously to work, and prefers to err by omission than by commission. Extraordinary things are rare, therefore moderate ordinary valuation. Exaggeration is a branch of lying, and you lose by it the credit of good taste, which is much, and of good sense, which is more.

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[Jane Jane]

If only politicians would learn this truth and just go ahead and do it.For all their puffery and exaggeration only ends in anger and bitterness and the lowering of the bar by the voters from sheer exhaustion.
If a man or woman would go to the podium and say : no I am not going to even try to lower your taxes this year or the next, it honestly cannot be done. But what I am going to do is do a thorough review of wastage in the various departments and close the door on that , and with the saved monies fill our coffers and use it for the public welfare-well that man or woman might look rather shabby compared to the dapper person who has promised caviar in every pot. However when the reality of the first promise comes into being and the poor are eating rather better in that district or having medicine for the elderly that was not available before; or when the potholes are really filled with no additional taxes, somehow I think the people would be the ones exaggerating about that representative to others from other locales.