Francois de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Were we perfectly acquainted with the object, we should never passionately desire it.

Moral severity in women is only a dress or paint which they use to set off their beauty.

If vanity does not entirely overthrow the virtues, at least it makes them all totter.

A small degree of wit, accompanied by good sense, is less tiresome in the long run than a great amount of wit without it.

Moderation is an ostentatious proof of our strength of character.

It is often laziness and timidity that keep us within our duty while virtue gets all the credit.

The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it.

It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.

We always get bored with those whom we bore.

Prudence and love are inconsistent; in proportion as the last increases, the other decreases.

The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.

He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks.

We sometimes differ more widely from ourselves than we do from others.

Most of our faults are more pardonable than the means we use to conceal them.

Some disguised deceits counterfeit truth so perfectly that not to be taken in by them would be an error of judgment.

Youth changes its tastes by the warmth of its blood; age retains its tastes by habit.

There are some faults which, when well managed, make a greater figure than virtue itself.

Eloquence resides as much in the tone of voice, in the eyes, and in the expression of the face, as in the choice of words.

It is necessary, in order to know things well, to know the particulars of them; and these, being infinite, make our knowledge eversuperficial and imperfect.

On why I don't trust democracy without extremely powerful systems of accountability and recall What seems to be generosity is often only disguised ambition - which despises small interests to gain great ones.

When the soul is ruffled by the remains of one passion, it is more disposed to entertain a new one than when it is entirely curedand at rest from all.

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

Moderation is a fear of falling into that envy and contempt which those who grow giddy with their good fortune quite justly draw upon themselves. It is a vain boasting of the greatness of our mind.

Jealousy contains more of self-love than of love.

The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech.

Nature has concealed at the bottom of our minds talents and abilities of which we are not aware.

Nothing is given so profusely as advice.

Humility is the sure evidence of Christian virtues. Without it, we retain all our faults still, and they are only covered over with pride, which hides them from other men's observation, and sometimes from our own too.

Some people are so extremely whiffling and inconsiderable that they are as far from any real faults as from substantial virtues.

We rarely ever perceive others as being sensible, except for those who agree with us.

Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.

Happy people rarely correct their faults; they consider themselves vindicated, since fortune endorses their evil ways.

Great men's honor ought always to be measured by the methods they made use of in attaining it.

Love has its name borrowed by a great number of dealings and affairs that are attributed to it--in which it has no greater part than the Doge in what is done at Venice.

Folly pursues us at all periods of our lives. If someone seems wise it is only because his follies are proportionate to his age and fortune.

There are but very few men clever enough to know all the mischief they do.

Nature creates ability; luck provides it with opportunity.

Love, like fire, cannot subsist without constant impulse; it ceases to live from the moment it ceases to hope or to fear.

Moderation is the feebleness and sloth of the soul, whereas ambition is the warmth and activity of it.

There are few good women who do not tire of their role.

Whatever distrust we may have of the sincerity of those who converse with us, we always believe they will tell us more truth than they do to others.

In their early passions women are in love with the lover, later they are in love with love.

Many people despise wealth, but few know how to give it away.

The reason why most women have so little sense of friendship is that this is but a cold and flat passion to those that have felt that of love.

When we exaggerate our friends' tenderness towards us, it is often less from gratitude than from a desire to exhibit our own virtue.

It may be said that the vices await us in the journey of life like hosts with whom we must successively lodge; and I doubt whether experience would make us avoid them if we were to travel the same road a second time.

Female gossips are generally actuated by active ignorance.

Treachery is more often the effect of weakness than of a formed design.