La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Narrowness of mind is often the cause of obstinacy; we do not easily believe beyond what we see.

Strength and weakness of mind are misnomers; they are really nothing but the good or bad health of our bodily organs.

We should not judge a man's merits by his great qualities, but by the use he makes of them.

It is not in the power of even the most crafty dissimulation to conceal love long, where it really is, nor to counterfeit it long where it is not.

Only the contemptible fear contempt.

Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others.

We are all strong enough to bear other men's misfortunes.

Weakness is more opposed to virtue than is vice.

Only the great can afford to have great defects.

There are crimes which become innocent and even glorious through their splendor, number and excess.

Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.

Το know how to profit by good advice, requires nearly as much ability as to know how to act for one'self.

Too great haste to repay an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.

We are nearer loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we wish.

Our envy always outlives the felicity of its object.

Though nature be ever so generous, yet can she not make a hero alone. Fortune must contribute her part too; and till both concur, the work cannot be perfected.

There are very few things impossible in themselves; and we do not want means to conquer difficulties so much as application and resolution in the use of means.

How can we be answerable for what we shall want in the future, since we have no clear idea of what we want now?

Madmen and fools see everything through the medium of humor.

We sometimes condemn the present, by praising the past; and show our contempt of what is now, by our esteem for what is no more.

The dullness of certain people is sometimes a sufficient security against the attack of an artful man.

Many people despise wealth, but few know how to give it away.

Not all those who know their minds know their hearts as well.

Preserving health by too severe a rule is a worrisome malady.

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

To praise great actions is in some sense to share them.

For most men the love of justice is only the fear of suffering injustice.

Our minds are as much given to laziness as our bodies.

We love much better those who endeavor to imitate us, than those who strive to equal us. For imitation is a sign of esteem, but competition of envy.

We always get bored with those whom we bore.

Esteem never makes ingrates.

There are certain defects which, well-mounted, glitter like virtue itself.

Fortune never seems so blind to any as to those on whom she bestows no favors.

The defects of the mind, like those of the face, grow worse with age.

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.

A fashionable woman is always in love - with herself.

We do not wish ardently for what we desire only through reason.

There are few virtuous women who are not bored with their trade.

Few things are impossible in themselves: application to make them succeed fails us more often than the means.

One should treat one's fate as one does one's health; enjoy it when it is good, be patient with it when it is poor, and never attempt any drastic cure save as an ultimate resort.

Tis a sort of coquetry to boast that we never coquet.

It is as common for tastes to change as it is uncommon for traits of character.

A man of understanding finds less difficulty in submitting to a wrong-headed fellow, than in attempting to set him right.

No man can love a second time the person whom he has once truly ceased to love.

A man cannot please long who has only one kind of wit.

We easily forget our faults when no one knows them but ourselves.

It is often hard to determine whether a clear, open, and honorable proceeding is the result of goodness or of cunning.

Minds of moderate caliber ordinarily condemn everthing which is beyond their range.

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.

It takes more strength of character to withstand good fortune than bad.