All the world says of a coxcomb that he is a coxcomb; but no one dares to say so to his face, and he dies without knowing it.
Jean de la BruyereEnvy and hatred go together. Mutually strengthened by the fact pursue the same object.
Jean de la BruyereThere is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work.
Jean de la BruyereIt is boorish to live ungraciously: the giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile?
Jean de la BruyereBoth as to high and low indifferently, men are prepossessed, charmed, fascinated by success; successful crimes are praised very much like virtue itself, and good fortune is not far from occupying the place of the whole cycle of virtues. It must be an atrocious act, a base and hateful deed, which success would not be able to justify.
Jean de la BruyereChildren are contemptuous, haughty, irritable, envious, sneaky, selfish, lazy, flighty, timid, liars and hypocrites, quick to laugh and cry, extreme in expressing joy and sorrow, especially about trifles, they'll do anything to avoid pain but they enjoy inflicting it: little men already.
Jean de la Bruyere