Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Philosophy easily triumphs over past and future ills; but present ills triumph over philosophy.

There is no better proof of a man's being truly good than his desiring to be constantly under the observation of good men.

However much we may distrust men's sincerity, we always believe they speak to us more sincerely than to others.

There is no accident so unfortunate but wise men will make some advantage of it, nor any so entirely fortunate but fools may turn it to their own prejudice.

There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not.

It is with an old love as it is with old age a man lives to all the miseries, but is dead to all the pleasures.

People would never fall in love if they hadn't heard love talked about.

Humility is the worst form of conceit.

Confidence in conversation has a greater share than wit.

We are easily comforted for the misfortunes of our friends, when those misfortunes give us an occasion of expressing our affection and solicitude.

The extreme delight we experience in talking about ourselves should warn us that those who listen do not share it.

Passion often makes fools of the wisest men and gives the silliest wisdom.

It takes more strength of character to withstand good fortune than bad.

The mind cannot long play the heart's role.

It is oftener by the estimation of our own feelings that we exaggerate the good qualities of others than by their merit, and when we praise them we wish to attract their praise.

Gracefulness is to the body what understanding is to the mind.

It is not in the power of even the most crafty dissimulation to conceal love long, where it really is, nor to counterfeit it long where it is not.

Old people love to give good advice; it compensates them for their inability to set a bad example.

The pleasure of love is in loving; we are happier in the passion we feel than in what we inspire.

Silence is the safest course for any man to adopt who distrust himself.

We acknowledge our faults in order to repair by our sincerity the damage they have done us in the eyes of others.

Friendship is only a reciprocal conciliation of interests, and an exchange of good offices; it is a species of commerce out of which self-love always expects to gain something.

In misfortune we often mistake dejection for constancy; we bear it without daring to look on it; like cowards, who suffer themselves to be murdered without resistance.

We are much harder on people who betray us in small ways than on people who betray others in great ones.

The world is full of pots jeering at kettles.

Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.

In friendship, as in love, we are often more happy from the things we are ignorant of than from those we are acquainted with.

Sometimes accidents happen in life from which we have need of a little madness to extricate ourselves successfully

It is a mighty error to suppose that none but violent and strong passions, such as love and ambition, are able to vanquish the rest. Even idleness, as feeble and languishing as it is, sometimes reigns over them; it usurps the throne and sits paramount over all the designs and actions of our lives, and imperceptibly wastes and destroys all our passions and all our virtues.

Selfishness is the grand moving principle of nine-tenths of our actions.

It is sometimes a point of as much cleverness to know to make good use of advice from others as to be able give good advice to oneself.

Sometimes we think we dislike flattery, but it is only the way it is done that we dislike.

A true friend is the most precious of all possessions and the one we take the least thought about acquiring.

We never desire strongly, what we desire rationally.

We have not strength enough to follow our reason so far as it would carry us.

That man, we may be sure, is a person of true worth, whom those who envy him most are yet forced to praise.

Bravery in simple soldiers is a dangerous trade, to which they have bound themselves to get their livelihood.

However great the advantages given us by nature, it is not she alone, but fortune with her, which makes heroes.

The force we use on ourselves, to prevent ourselves from loving, is often more cruel than the severest treatment at the hands of one loved.

We seldom find people ungrateful so long as it is thought we can serve them.

Our aversion to lying is commonly a secret ambition to make what we say considerable, and have every word received with a religious respect.

Kings do with men as with pieces of money; they give them what value they please, and we are obliged to receive them at their current and not at their real value.

Nothing is rarer than true good nature; they who are reputed to have it are generally only pliant or weak.

It is impossible to love a second time what we have really ceased to love.

Everyone praises his heart, none dare praise their understanding.

Honest people will respect us for our merit: the public, for our luck.

However greatly we distrust the sincerity of those we converse with, yet still we think they tell more truth to us than to anyone else.

We like to read others but we do not like to be read.