We should scarcely desire things ardently if we were perfectly acquainted with what we desire.
Francois de La RochefoucauldGreat names abase, instead of elevating, those who do not know how to bear them.
Francois de La RochefoucauldNo accidents are so unlucky [bad] but that the wise may draw some advantage [good] from them.
Francois de La RochefoucauldFearlessness is a more than ordinary strength of mind, which raises the soul above the troubles, disorders, and emotions which theprospect of great dangers are used to produce. And by this inward strength it is that heroes preserve themselves in a calm and quiet state, and enjoy a presence of mind and the free use of their reason in the midst of those terrible accidents that amaze and confound other people.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld