--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man's own vanity is a swindler that…" description: "\"A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.\" — Honore de Balzac" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png" --- # A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a… ![“A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.” quote by Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png) > “A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.” [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal vanity acts like a con artist, constantly finding victims to deceive. **In simple terms:** Vanity tricks both the vain and others. Key Takeaway Beware of self‑importance and its effects. Themes vanity self‑deception manipulation Mood reflective cautionary Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - personal relationships - leadership - marketing - self‑esteem Key Concepts psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does vanity influence your decisions? - Can vanity be redirected constructively? A Different Perspective Vanity may sometimes motivate positive self‑improvement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dupe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dupe/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Swindler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swindler/) [Swindlers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swindlers/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) ## Related quotes > [The more gifted by nature is a man, the more is deplorable the abuse that he does by using them to shameful ends. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/african-spir/the-more-gifted-by-nature-is-a-man-the-more-is-deplorable-the-abuse/) [African Spir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/african-spir/) > [The thief steals from himself. The swindler swindles himself. For the real price is knowledge and virtue, whereof wealth and credit are signs. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-thief-steals-from-himself-the-swindler-swindles-himself-for-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Memory is a swindler, a forger emeritus of facts and figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-rodrigues/memory-is-a-swindler-a-forger-emeritus-of-facts-and-figures/) [Nelson Rodrigues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-rodrigues/) > [Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it's the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-zuckoff/every-swindle-is-driven-by-a-desire-for-easy-money-it-s-the-one-thing/) [Mitchell Zuckoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-zuckoff/) > [The most notorious swindler has not assumed so many names as self-love, nor is so much ashamed of his own. She calls herself patriotism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/the-most-notorious-swindler-has-not-assumed-so-many-names-as-self/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Let nothing dupe you! Such is the horrible maxim that acts as a solvent upon every noble feeling man experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/let-nothing-dupe-you-such-is-the-horrible-maxim-that-acts-as-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [How fondly swindlers coddle their dupes! No mother is as caressing or thoughtful towards her adored child as a merchant in hypocrisy toward his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/how-fondly-swindlers-coddle-their-dupes-no-mother-is-as-caressing-or/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Since the time of the cavemen, man has glorified himself, has made himself divine, and his monstrous vanity has caused human catastrophe. Art has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-arp/since-the-time-of-the-cavemen-man-has-glorified-himself-has-made/) [Hans Arp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-arp/) > [Tilling the fertile soil of man's vanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/tilling-the-fertile-soil-of-man-s-vanity/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [For man, the vanity of vanities represents first of all solidarity with his own universe, and this vanity is mans Salvation, the way through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/for-man-the-vanity-of-vanities-represents-first-of-all-solidarity/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [I will give you a definition of a proud man: he is a man who has neither vanity nor wisdom one filled with hatreds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-will-give-you-a-definition-of-a-proud-man-he-is-a-man-who-has/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [For man, the vanity of vanities represents first of all solidarity with his own universe, and this vanity is mans Salvation, the way through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/for-man-the-vanity-of-vanities-represents-first-of-all-solidarity-2/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [“Of all the weaknesses that beset a man, vanity is the most deadly. For through vanity can a wise man turn to folly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-e-feist/of-all-the-weaknesses-that-beset-a-man-vanity-is-the-most-deadly-for/) [Raymond E. Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-e-feist/) > [The woman who appeals to a man's vanity may stimulate him, the woman who appeals to his heart may attract him, but it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/the-woman-who-appeals-to-a-man-s-vanity-may-stimulate-him-the-woman/) [Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/) > [A man's vanity is more fragile that you might think. It's easy for us to mistake shyness for coldness, and silence for indifference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/a-man-s-vanity-is-more-fragile-that-you-might-think-it-s-easy-for-us/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) ## More by Honore de Balzac > [“Oh, my friend, when you love, love a woman whom you are sure that you can love always. Never forsake a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/oh-my-friend-when-you-love-love-a-woman-whom-you-are-sure-that-you/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“You have broken the ice, though you have not even scratched its glossy surface: you have placed your hand upon the croup of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/you-have-broken-the-ice-though-you-have-not-even-scratched-its-glossy/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/my-writing-table-has-seen-all-my-wretchedness-knows-all-my-plans-has/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Foppery, being the chronic condition of women, is not so much noticed as it is when it breaks out on the person of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/foppery-being-the-chronic-condition-of-women-is-not-so-much-noticed/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A married woman is a slave you must know how to seat upon a throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-married-woman-is-a-slave-you-must-know-how-to-seat-upon-a-throne/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All men can bear a familiar, definite misfortune better than the cruel alternations of a fate which, from one moment to another, brings excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-men-can-bear-a-familiar-definite-misfortune-better-than-the-cruel/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-mind-too-has-its-regimen-it-needs-gymnastics-just-like-the-body/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All human power is a compound of time and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-human-power-is-a-compound-of-time-and-patience/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Explore all 793 Honore de Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## More Dupe quotes > [“The height the dupe has fallen is measured by his anger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/the-height-the-dupe-has-fallen-is-measured-by-his-anger/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [Let nothing dupe you! Such is the horrible maxim that acts as a solvent upon every noble feeling man experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/let-nothing-dupe-you-such-is-the-horrible-maxim-that-acts-as-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/a-man-is-his-own-easiest-dupe-for-what-he-wishes-to-be-true-he/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [Woe to the dupe that yields to Fate!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/woe-to-the-dupe-that-yields-to-fate/) [Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/) > [I can not understand, what'll consolation on you , someone have been deceiving on you or did you dupe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/i-can-not-understand-what-ll-consolation-on-you-someone-have-been/) Mak\_786 > ['Tis writ on Paradise's gate, Woe to the dupe that yields to fate!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez/tis-writ-on-paradise-s-gate-woe-to-the-dupe-that-yields-to-fate/) [Hafez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez/) > [One dupe is as impossible as one twin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/one-dupe-is-as-impossible-as-one-twin/) [John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/) > [ PALMISTRY, n. The 947th method . . . of obtaining money by false pretences \[by\] "reading character" in the wrinkles \[of\] the hand. The… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/palmistry-n-the-947th-method-of-obtaining-money-by-false-pretences-by/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [When the spirit is not master of the world, then it is its dupe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/when-the-spirit-is-not-master-of-the-world-then-it-is-its-dupe/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It is easy to become the dupe of a deferred purpose, of the promise the future can never keep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/it-is-easy-to-become-the-dupe-of-a-deferred-purpose-of-the-promise-2/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [You think him to be your dupe; if he feigns to be so who is the greater dupe, he or you?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/you-think-him-to-be-your-dupe-if-he-feigns-to-be-so-who-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [“We half-eat cookies and drink the milk, we leave notes, all so kids will believe in something that isn’t true. Kids try their best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/we-half-eat-cookies-and-drink-the-milk-we-leave-notes-all-so-kids/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [Many self-help books give you these neat, tidy formulas that are really illusions. They dupe people into thinking, 'Well if I can just do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/many-self-help-books-give-you-these-neat-tidy-formulas-that-are/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) > [The surest way of making a dupe is to let your victim suppose you are his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/the-surest-way-of-making-a-dupe-is-to-let-your-victim-suppose-you-are/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [Maybe I could be a Hunter Schafer look-alike dupe or something. When they run out of budget, I'm here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-consani/maybe-i-could-be-a-hunter-schafer-look-alike-dupe-or-something-when/) [Alex Consani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-consani/) [Browse all 17 Dupe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dupe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Honore de Balzac" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-never-lacks-for-a-dupe/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dupe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-never-lacks-for-a-dupe/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/honor-de-balzac-197_dupe_a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-ne_2824706.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.” — Honore de Balzac", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Honore de Balzac", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A man's own vanity is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-never-lacks-for-a-dupe/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-man-s-own-vanity-is-a-swindler-that-never-lacks-for-a-dupe/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```