François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

“Many young persons believe themselves natural when they are only impolite and coarse.”

“Vanity, shame, and above all disposition, often make men brave and women chaste.”

“Marriage is the only war in which you sleep with the enemy.”

“Everyone praises his heart, none dare praise their understanding.”

“Passion often renders the most clever man a fool, and sometimes renders the most foolish man clever.”

“To praise princes for virtues they do not possess is to insult them without fear of consequences.”

“Flattery is a base coin which is current only through our vanity.”

“It is harder to hide the feelings we have than to feign the ones we do not have.”

“It is most difficult to speak when we are ashamed of being silent.”

“When we enlarge upon the affection our friends have for us, this is very often not so much out of a sense of gratitude as from a desire to persuade people of our own great worth, that can deserve so much kindness.”

“Whatever good things people say of us, they tell us nothing new.”

“We often pay our debts not because it is only fair that we should, but to make future loans easier.”

“Every one complains of a poor memory, no one of a weak judgment.”

“Misers mistake gold for their good; whereas 'tis only a means of attaining it.”

“People's personalities, like buildings, have various facades, some pleasant to view, some not.”

“Few things are needful to make the wise man happy, but nothing satisfies the fool; - and this is the reason why so many of mankind are miserable.”

“The gratitude of most men is but a secret desire of receiving greater benefits.”

“In the misfortunes of our best friends we always find something not altogether displeasing to us.”

“If we had no faults, we would not derive so much pleasure from noting those of other people.”

“The greatest miracle of love is the cure of coquetry.”

“We forgive just so long as we love.”

“Great and glorious events which dazzle the beholder are represented by politicians as the outcome of grand designs whereas they are usually products of temperaments and passions.”

“Idleness is more an infirmity of the mind than of the body.”

“The love of new acquaintance comes not so much from being weary of what we had before, or from any satisfaction there is in change, as from the distaste we feel in being too little admired by those that know us too well, and the hope of being more admired by those that know us less.”

“If we are to judge of love by its consequences, it more nearly resembles hatred than friendship.”