Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.
Francois de La RochefoucauldPrudence and love are inconsistent; in proportion as the last increases, the other decreases.
Francois de La RochefoucauldWhatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.
Francois de La RochefoucauldThe distempers of the soul have their relapses, as many and as dangerous as those of the body; and what we take for a perfect cureis generally either an abatement of the same disease or the changing of that for another.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld