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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: Lucien was so genuinely superior, and had so fine a future before him,
that the young men who chose to be offended or puzzled by his return
to Paris and his unaccountable good fortune were enchanted whenever
they could do him an ill turn. He knew that he had many enemies, and
was well aware of those hostile feelings among his friends. The Abbe,
indeed, took admirable care of his adopted son, putting him on his
guard against the treachery of the world and the fatal imprudence of
youth. Lucien was expected to tell, and did in fact tell the Abbe each
evening, every trivial incident of the day. Thanks to his Mentor's
advice, he put the keenest curiosity--the curiosity of the world--off
the scent. Entrenched in the gravity of an Englishman, and fortified
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