Not Always Inward, And Not Often Secret

"There was never proud man thought so absurdly well of himself as the lover doth of the person loved; and therefore it was well said, That it is impossible to love and to be wise. Neither doth this weakness appear to others only, and not to the party loved; but to the loved most of all, except the love be reciproque. For it is a true rule, that love is ever rewarded either with the reciproque or with an inward and secret contempt."

-- From "Of Love," in Selected Writings of Francis Bacon. The Modern Library, New York, 1955.