Francois De La Rochefoucauld Quotes
He who refuses praise the first time that it is offered does so because he would hear it a second time.
We confess to little faults only to persuade ourselves we have no great ones.
There are people who in spite of their merit disgust us and others who please us in spite of their faults.
The person giving the advice returns the confidence placed in him with a disinterested eagerness... and he is usually guided only by his own interest or reputation.
People would never fall in love if they hadn't heard love talked about.
It is sometimes a point of as much cleverness to know to make good use of advice from others as to be able give good advice to oneself.
Perseverance is neither praiseworthy nor blameworthy; for it seems to be only the enduring of certain inclinations and opinions which men neither give themselves nor take away from themselves.
That which occasions so many mistakes in the computations of men, when they expect return for favors, is that the giver's pride and the receiver's cannot agree upon the value of the kindness done.
We frequently are troublesome to others, when we think it impossible for us ever to be so.
A man is ridiculous less through the characteristics he has than through those he affects to have.
Commonplace minds usually condemn what is beyond the reach of their understanding.
Some disguised deceits counterfeit truth so perfectly that not to be taken in by them would be an error of judgment.
We exaggerate the glory of some men in order to detract from that of others.
The temperament that produces a talent for little things is the opposite of that required for great ones.
The measure of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.
Vanity, shame, and above all disposition, often make men brave and women chaste.
What renders other people's vanity insufferable is that it wounds our own.
Whilst weakness and timidity keep us to our duty, virtue has often all the honor.
The only good copies are those which make us see the absurdity of bad originals.
Sometimes we think we dislike flattery, but it is only the way it is done that we dislike.
Tastes in young people are changed by natural impetuosity, and in the aged are preserved by habit.
It often happens that things come into the mind in a more finished form than could have been achieved after much study.
The mark of extraordinary merit is to see those most envious of it constrained to praise.
Moderation cannot have the credit of combatiug and subduing ambition, they are never found together. Moderation is the languor and indolence of the soul, as ambition is its activity and ardor.
Good and bad fortune are found severally to visit those who have the most of the one or the other.
The good or the bad fortune of men depends not less upon their own dispositions than upon fortune.
There is no praise we have not lavished upon prudence; and yet she cannot assure to us the most trifling event.
We often make use of envenomed praise, that reveals on the rebound, as it were, defects in those praised which we dare not exposeany other way.
A man's wits are better employed in bearing up under the misfortunes that lie upon him at present than in foreseeing those that may come upon him hereafter.
What we take for high-mindedness is very often no other than ambition well disguised, that scorns means interests, only to pursuegreater.
The most effectual way to be deceived is to believe oneself more cunning than one's neighbors.
A man is perhaps ungrateful, but often less chargeable with ingratitude than his benefactor is.
The daily employment of cunning marks a little mind, it generally happens that those who resort to it in one respect to protect themselves lay themselves open to attack in another.
We come altogether fresh and raw into the several stages of life, and often find ourselves without experience, despite our years.
However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention.
It is almost always a fault of one who loves not to realize when he ceases to be loved.
Few things are needed to make a wise man happy; nothing can make a fool content; that is why most men are miserable.