Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives.
Francois de La RochefoucauldSatire is at once the most agreeable and most dangerous of mental qualities. It always pleases when it is refined, but we always fear those who use it too much; yet satire should be allowed when unmixed with spite, and when the person satirized can join in the satire.
Francois de La RochefoucauldMen frequently do good only to give themselves opportunity of doing ill with impunity.
Francois de La RochefoucauldThe man whom no one pleases is much more unhappy than the man who pleases no one.
Francois de La RochefoucauldModeration is caused by the fear of exciting the envy and contempt which those merit who are intoxicated with their good fortune; it is a vain display of our strength of mind, and in short the moderation of men at their greatest height is only a desire to appear greater than their fortune.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld