Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

It is more often from pride than from ignorance that we are so obstinately opposed to current opinions; we find the first places taken, and we do not want to be the last.

Most people judge men by their success or their good fortune.

Unfaithfulness ought to extinguish love, and we should not be jealous when there is reason to be. Only those who give no grounds for jealousy are worthy of it.

How can we expect another to keep our secret if we have been unable to keep it ourselves?

It is with certain good qualities as with the senses; those who have them not can neither appreciate nor comprehend them in others.

One kind of flirtation is to boast we never flirt.

We are sometimes as different from ourselves as we are from others.

People always complain about their memories, never about their minds.

That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.

Truth has scarce done so much good in the world as the false appearances of it have done hurt.

The intellect of the generality of women serves more to fortify their folly than their reason.

Hope and fear are inseparable.

The moderation of people in prosperity is the effect of a smooth and composed temper, owing to the calm of their good fortune.

Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives.

There are few virtuous women who are not bored with their trade.

It is more difficult for a man to be faithful to his mistress when he is favored than when he is ill treated by her.

The violence done us by others is often less painful than that which we do to ourselves.

The temperament that produces a talent for little things is the opposite of that required for great ones.

We do not praise others, ordinarily, but in order to be praised ourselves.

What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.

Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.

Some follies are caught, like contagious diseases.

Love of fame, fear of disgrace, schemes for advancement, desire to make life comfortable and pleasant, and the urge to humiliate others are often at the root of the valour men hold in such high esteem.

Death and the sun are not to be looked at steadily.

It is with sincere affection or friendship as with ghosts and apparitions,--a thing that everybody talks of, and scarce any hath seen.

Penetration has an air of divination; it pleases our vanity more than any other quality of the mind.

Minds of moderate caliber ordinarily condemn everthing which is beyond their range.

We should not be upset that others hide the truth from us, when we hide it so often from ourselves.

People that are conceited of their own merit take pride in being unfortunate, that themselves and others may think them considerable enough to be the envy and the mark of fortune.

It is not always for virtue's sake that women are virtuous.

Whatever pretext we may give for our affections, often it is only interest and vanity which cause them.

Constancy in love is of two sorts: One is the effect of new excellencies that are always presenting themselves afresh, and attractour affections continually; the other is only from a point of honor, and a taking of pride not to change.

We often are consoled by our want of reason for misfortunes that reason could not have comforted.

It is no tragedy to do ungrateful people favors, but it is unbearable to be indebted to a scoundrel.

Women can less easily surmount their coquetry than their passions.

It is the habit of mediocre minds to condemn all that is beyond their grasp.

The constancy of sages is nothing but the art of locking up their agitation in their hearts.

There are no events so disastrous that adroit men do not draw some advantage from them, nor any so fortunate that the imprudent cannot turn to their own prejudice.

We should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not.

The most ingenious men continually pretend to condemn tricking--but this is often done that they may use it more conveniently themselves, when some great occasion or interest offers itself to them.

There are few occasions when we should make a bad bargain by giving up the good on condition that no ill was said of us.

We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.

The most sure method of subjecting yourself to be deceived is to consider yourself more cunning than others.

One is never fortunate or as unfortunate as one imagines.

We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.

Women find it far more difficult to overcome their inclination to coquetry than to overcome their love.

Gratitude is like credit; it is the backbone of our relations; frequently we pay our debts not because equity demands that we should, but to facilitate future loans.

Few things are impossible in themselves: application to make them succeed fails us more often than the means.