François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

“The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech.”

“Some people are so extremely whiffling and inconsiderable that they are as far from any real faults as from substantial virtues.”

“Chance corrects us of many faults that reason would not know how to correct.”

“The art of putting into play mediocre qualities often begets more reputation than is achieved by true merit.”

“The most clever and polite are content with only seeming attentive while we perceive in their mind and eyes that at the very time they are wandering from what is said and desire to return to what they want to say.”

“Love can no more continue without a constant motion than fire can; and when once you take hope and fear away, you take from it its very life and being.”

“We are better pleased to see those on whom we confer benefits than those from whom we receive them.”

“The grace of novelty and the length of habit, though so very opposite to one another, yet agree in this, that they both alike keepus from discovering the faults of our friends.”

“Too great refinement is false delicacy, and true delicacy is solid refinement.”

“The constancy of sages is nothing but the art of locking up their agitation in their hearts.”

“Virtue is the habit of acting according to wisdom. GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ, "Felicity", Leibniz: Political Writings Virtue is harder to be got than knowledge of the world; and, if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered. JOHN LOCKE, Some Thoughts Concerning Education However wicked men may be, they do not dare openly to appear the enemies of virtue, and when they desire to persecute her they either pretend to believe her false or attribute crimes to her.”

“It is not expedient or wise to examine our friends too closely; few persons are raised in our esteem by a close examination.”

“One cannot answer for his courage when he has never been in danger.”

“The confidence which we have in ourselves give birth to much of that, which we have in others.”

“We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us.”

“The one thing people are the most liberal with, is their advice.”

“Truth does not do as much good in the world as its imitations do harm.”

“The mind is always the patsy of the heart.”

“A clever man should handle his interests so that each will fall in suitable order of their value.”

“There is nothing men are so generous of as advice.”

“The courage of a great many men, and the virtue of a great many women, are the effect of vanity, shame, and especially a suitabletemperament.”

“In the human heart new passions are forever being born; the overthrow of one almost always means the rise of another.”

“Envy is more irreconcilable than hatred.”

“He who lives without committing any folly is not so wise as he thinks.[Fr., Qui vit sans folie n'est pas si sage qu'il croit.]”

“A fool has not material enough to be good.[Fr., Un sot n'a pas assez d'etoffe pour etre bon.]”