Francois De La Rochefoucauld Quotes
There are women who never had an intrigue; but there are scarce any who never had but one.
Flattery is false money, which would not be current were it not for our vanity.
Kings do with men as with pieces of money; they give them what value they please, and we are obliged to receive them at their current and not at their real value.
The vices enter into the composition of the virtues, as poisons into that of medicines. Prudence collects and arranges them, and uses them beneficially against the ills of life.
What often prevents our abandoning ourselves to a single vice is, our having more than one.
We should wish for few things with eagerness, if we perfectly knew the nature of that which was the object of our desire.
The most brilliant fortunes are often not worth the littleness required to gain them.
Happiness does not consist in things themselves but in the relish we have of them.
Without humility, we keep all our defects; and they are only crusted over by pride, which conceals them from others, and often from ourselves.
It is easier to fall in love when you are out of it than to get out of it when you are in.
Our hopes, often though they deceive us, lead us pleasantly along the path of life.
In friendship, as in love, we are often more happy from the things we are ignorant of than from those we are acquainted with.
A woman often thinks she regrets the lover, when she only regrets the love.
Consolation for unhappiness can often be found in a certain satisfaction we get from looking unhappy.
Humility is often only a feigned submissiveness by which men hope to bring other people to submit to them; it is a more calculated sort of pride.
If you cannot find peace in yourself, it is useless to look for it elsewhere.
Loyalty is in most people only a ruse used by self-interest to attract confidence.
We are eager to believe that others are flawed because we are eager to believe in what we wish for.
There are many predicaments in life that one must be a bit crazy to escape from.
There are few people more convinced of their own genius than those who complain of how stupid they are.
We should not be upset that others hide the truth from us, when we hide it so often from ourselves.
One kind of happiness is to know exactly at what point to be miserable.
There are few people who would not be ashamed of being loved when they love no longer.
We own up to minor failings, but only so as to convince others that we have no major ones.
We make promises to the extent that we hope-and keep them to the extent that we fear.
A man often believes himself leader when he is led; as his mind endeavors to reach one goal, his heart insensibly drags him towards another.
The fame of great men ought to be judged always by their big, fancy names.
There are two things which Man cannot look at directly without flinching: the sun and death.
If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.
The desire of talking of ourselves, and showing those faults we do not mind having seen, makes up a good part of our sincerity.
When a man is in love, he doubts, very often, what he most firmly believes.
Everyone complains of his memory, and nobody complains of his judgment.