When the philosophers despised riches, it was because they had a mind to vindicate their own merit, and take revenge upon the injustice of fortune by vilifying those enjoyments which she had not given them.
Francois de La RochefoucauldPeople would not long remain in social life if they were not the dupes of each other.
Francois de La RochefoucauldNo matter how much care we put into hiding our passions under the appearances of devotion and honor, they can always be seen to peer out through these covers.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld