Jean de la Bruyere Quotes

A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value he puts on himself.

If you suppress the exorbitant love of pleasure and money, idle curiosity, iniquitous pursuits and wanton mirth, what a stillness would there be in the greatest cities.

A modest man never talks of himself.

Men fall from great fortune because of the same shortcomings that led to their rise.

The sublime only paints the true, and that too in noble objects; it paints it in all its phases, its cause and its effect; it is the most worthy expression or image of this truth. Ordinary minds cannot find out the exact expression, and use synonymes.

Extremes are vicious, and proceed from men; compensation is just, and proceeds from God.

Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices; of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy.

Poverty may be the mother of crime, but lack of good sense is the father.

We rarely repent of speaking little, but often of speaking too much.

No road is to long for him who advances slowly and does not hurry and no attainment is beyond his reach who equips himself with patience to achieve it

Eloquence may be found in conversations and in all kinds of writings; it is rarely found when looked for, and sometimes discovered where it is least expected.

When we are young we lay up for old age; when we are old we save for death.

A simple garb is the proper costume of the vulgar; it is cut for them, and exactly suits their measure, but it is an ornament for those who have filled up their lives with great deeds. I liken them to beauty in dishabille, but more bewitching on that account.

Man makes up his mind he will preach, and he preaches.

Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

In art them is a point of perfection, as of goodness or maturity in nature; he who is able to perceive it, and who loves it, has perfect taste; he who does not feel it, or loves on this side or that, has an imperfect taste.

As long as men are liable to die and are desirous to live, a physician will be made fun of, but he will be well paid.

Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued.

What is certain in death is somewhat softened by what is uncertain; it is an indefiniteness in the time, which holds a certain relation to the infinite, and what is called eternity.

The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you.

Love seizes us suddenly, without giving warning, and our disposition or our weakness favors the surprise; one look, one glance, from the fair fixes and determines us.

There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience.

The very essence of politeness seems to be to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.

A wise man is not governed by others, nor does he try to govern them; he prefers that reason alone prevail.

He who can wait for what he desires takes the course not to be exceedingly grieved if he fails of it; he, on the contrary, who labors after a thing too impatiently thinks the success when it comes is not a recompense equal to all the pains he has been at about it.

They who, without any previous knowledge of us, think amiss of us, do us no harm; they attack not us, but the phantom of their own imagination.

Let us not complain against men because otheir rudeness, their ingratitude, their injustice, their arrogance, their love oself, their forgetfulness oothers. They are so made. Such is their nature.

Wit is the god of moments, but Genius is the god of ages.

We seldom repent talking little, but very often talking too much.

A man has made great progress in cunning when he does not seem too clever to others.

The reason that women do not love one another is - men.

If it be usual to be strongly impressed by things that are scarce, why are we so little impressed by virtue?

A man who is free and unmarried, if he has some intelligence, can rise above his fortune, mingle in society and meet the best people on an equal footing. This is harder for a married man: marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.

The most amiable people are those who least wound the self-love of others.

Make me chaste and To what excesses will men not go for the sake of a religion in which they believe so little and which they practice so imperfectly!

He who has lived a day has lived an age.

A man's worth is estimated in this world according to his conduct.

Every hour in itself, as it respects us in particular, is the only one we can call our own.

A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.

Envy and hatred go together. Mutually strengthened by the fact pursue the same object.

The whole genius of an author consists in describing well, and delineating character well. Homer, Plato, Virgil, Horace only excel other writers by their expressions and images; we must indicate what is true if we mean to write naturally, forcibly and delicately.

A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book; he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty Guineas.

We all covet wealth, but not its perils.

The spendthrift robs his heirs the miser robs himself.

Eloquence is to the sublime what the whole is to the part.

It is easier to enrich ourselves with a thousand virtues, than to correct ourselves of a single fault.

If men wish to be held in esteem, they must associate with those only who are estimable.

Life is a kind of sleep: old men sleep longest, nor begin to wake but when they are to die.