Ne pas se tromper d'erreur

On at least three occasions, Montaigne gained the respect of adversaries who were ready to kill him, owing, he believed, to the confident resoluteness he displayed towards them. The opposite reaction would have been just as possible: he knew well enough how to weave and dodge by lying diplomatically. It remains to consider the combinations to which the two rival attitudes, which are closer than one might think, lend themselves.