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http://books.google.com/books?id=QSdPNfXQavAC&q=%22L'absence+diminue+les+m%C3%A9diocres+passions+et+augmente+les+grandes+comme+le+vent+%C3%A9teint+les+bougies+et+allume+le+feu%22&pg=PA75#v=onepage 
Variant translation: Absence weakens the minor passions and adds to the effects of great ones, as the wind blows out a candle and fans a fire. 
Maxim 276. 
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
                                    
 
        
     
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                            