“He who has no character must have wit.”Nicolas Chamfort · Maxime și cugetări · 1795 · Maxima 13
When principles are missing, wit becomes the currency that buys respect.
Chamfort notices a trade-off: a person with firm principles does not need to be dazzling in conversation, because integrity gives them presence on its own. Someone without those anchors has to buy attention and respect through verbal brilliance, humor, and polish. The mechanism is substitution: the missing quality is replaced by its opposite. A businessman who keeps shifting his promises yet shines at the dinner table with flawless remarks shows exactly this exchange.
Why it matters It helps you spot when someone's charm covers a lack of grounding, in others or in yourself.