The 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 RochefoucauldThe reason we do not let our friends see the very bottom of our hearts is not so much distrust of them as distrust of ourselves.
Francois de La RochefoucauldIt is difficult to like those whom we do not esteem; but it is no less so to like those whom we esteem more than ourselves.
Francois de La RochefoucauldWe label judges with having the meanest motives, and yet we desire that our reputation and fame should depend upon the judgment of men, who are all, either from their jealousy or preoccupation or want of intelligence, opposed to us - and yet despite their bias, just for the sake of making these men decide in our favor, we peril in so many ways both our peace and our life.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld