Moderation 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 RochefoucauldThere is real love just as there are real ghosts; every person speaks of it, few persons have seen it.
Francois de La RochefoucauldDecency is the least of all laws, but yet it is the law which is most strictly observed.
Francois de La RochefoucauldSelf-love is the love of a man's own self, and of everything else for his own sake. It makes people idolaters to themselves, and tyrants to all the world besides.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld