Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

He that fancies such a sufficiency in himself that he can live without all the world is greatly mistaken; but he that imagines himself so necessary that other people cannot live without him is a great deal more mistaken.

The reason why lovers are never bored together is that they are always talking of themselves.

Self-love makes our friends appear more or less deserving in proportion to the delight we take in them, and the measures by whichwe judge of their worth depend upon the manner of their conversing with us.

He who refuses praise the first time that it is offered does so because he would hear it a second time.

That which occasions so many mistakes in the computations of men, when they expect return for favors, is that the giver's pride and the receiver's cannot agree upon the value of the kindness done.

We often shed tears that deceive ourselves after deceiving others.

We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.

Magnanimity is sufficiently defined by its name, nevertheless one can say it is the good sense of pride, the most noble way of receiving praise.

There are few people more convinced of their own genius than those who complain of how stupid they are.

Considering how little the beginning or the ceasing to love is in our own power, it is foolish and unreasonable for the lover or his mistress to complain of one another's inconstancy.

Coquetry is the essential characteristic, and the prevalent humor of women; but they do not all practice it, because the coquetry of some is restrained by fear or by reason.

The good or the bad fortune of men depends not less upon their own dispositions than upon fortune.

To establish yourself in the world a person must do all they can to appear already established.

Good taste comes more from the judgment than from the mind.

The gallantry of the mind consists in agreeable flattery.

Some allow themselves to be overcome by panic, and others charge because they dare not remain at their posts. Some may be found whose courage is strengthened by small perils that prepare them to face greater dangers. Some are daring when facing swords but dread facing bullets; others dread bullets little but fear facing swords a lot.

A man often thinks he rules himself, when all the while he is ruled and managed; and while his understanding directs one design, his affections imperceptibly draw him into another.

Jealousy is nothing more than a fear of abandonment

What is perfectly true is perfectly witty.

All women are flirts, but some are restrained by shyness, and others by sense.

The strongest symptom of wisdom in man is his being sensible of his own follies.

The generality of friends puts us out of conceit with friendship; just as the generality of religious people puts us out of conceit with religion.

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.

The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.

Silence is the safest policy if you are unsure of yourself.

The heart is forever making the head its fool.

No men are oftener wrong than those that can least bear to be so.

Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things.

When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blossoms. Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati The 11 Karmic Spaces: Choosing Freedom from the Patterns That Bind You There are two kinds of faithfulness in love: one is based on forever finding new things to love in the loved one; the other is based on our pride in being faithful.

Flattery is a counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation.

We often pride ourselves on even the most criminal passions, but envy is a timid and shamefaced passion we never dare to acknowledge.

No matter how brilliant an action, it should not be considered great unless it was the result of a great motive.

There are people who, like new songs, are in vogue only for a time.

The one thing people are the most liberal with, is their advice.

Love's greatest miracle is the curing of coquetry.

A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

There are two sorts of constancy in love one arises from continually discovering in the loved person new subjects for love, the other arises from our making a merit of being constant.

Nothing prevents one from appearing natural as the desire to appear natural.

When a man is in love, he doubts, very often, what he most firmly believes.

Love can no more continue without a constant motion than fire can; and when once you take hope and fear away, you take from it its very life and being.

We are never so happy, nor so unhappy, as we suppose ourselves to be.

To establish ourselves in the world, we have to do all we can to appear established. To succeed in the world, we do everything we can to appear successful.

It appears that nature has hid at the bottom of our hearts talents and abilities unknown to us. It is only the passions that have the power of bringing them to light, and sometimes give us views more true and more perfect than art could possibly do.

We easily forget our faults when no one knows them but ourselves.

The qualities we have, make us so ridiculous as those which we affect.

What makes us so bitter against people who outwit us is that they think themselves cleverer than we are.

The only thing constant in life is change

Nothing hinders a thing from being natural so much as the straining ourselves to make it seem so.