Jean De La Bruyere Quotes

The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman we love.

Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

No road is to long for him who advances slowly and does not hurry and no attainment is beyond his reach who equips himself with patience to achieve it

The spendthrift robs his heirs the miser robs himself.

A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.

Courtly manners are contagious; they are caught at Versailles.

We are more sociable, and get on better with people by the heart than the intellect.

A prince wants only the pleasure of private life to complete his happiness.

There is as much trickery required to grow rich by a stupid book as there is folly in buying it.

Out of difficulties grow miracles.

A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value he puts on himself.

Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices; of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy.

At the beginning and at the end of love, the two lovers are embarrassed to find themselves alone.

When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.

Caprice in woman is the antidote to beauty.

If poverty is the mother of all crimes, lack of intelligence is the father.

There are only three events in a man's life; birth, life, and death; he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.

The most exquisite pleasure is giving pleasure to others.

Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity.

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.

Next to sound judgment, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.

We seldom repent talking little, but very often talking too much.

There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and willfully go wrong for fear of being controlled.

The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth.

A coxcomb is one whom simpletons believe to be a man of merit.

We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.

A blockhead cannot come in, nor go away, nor sit, nor rise, nor stand, like a man of sense.

If it be true that a man is rich who wants nothing, a wise man is a very rich man.

A man of moderate Understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good Understanding, thinks he writes reasonably.

Manners carry the world for the moment, character for all time.

A fool is one whom simpletons believe to be a man on merit. [Fr., Un fat celui que les sots croient un homme de merite.]

Time makes friendship stronger, but love weaker.

The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.

The majority of women have no principles of their own; they are guided by the heart, and depend for their own conduct, upon that of the men they love.

Death happens but once, yet we feel it every moment of our lives; it is worse to dread it than to suffer it.

The wise person often shuns society for fear of being bored.

The pleasure we feel in criticizing robs us from being moved by very beautiful things.

There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience.

Mockery is often the result of a poverty of wit.

Sudden love is latest cured.

There is a false modesty, which is vanity; a false glory, which is levity; a false grandeur, which is meanness; a false virtue, which is hypocrisy, and a false wisdom, which is prudery.

When a secret is revealed, it is the fault of the man who confided it.

A pious man is one who would be an atheist if the king were.

Logic is the technique by which we add conviction to truth.

Men regret their life has been ill-spent, but this does not always induce them to make a better use of the time they have yet to live.

Politeness makes one appear outwardly as they should be within.

Let us not complain against men because otheir rudeness, their ingratitude, their injustice, their arrogance, their love oself, their forgetfulness oothers. They are so made. Such is their nature.

There is no excess in the world so commendable as excessive gratitude.