Good fortune almost always makes some change in a man's behavior - in his manner of speaking and acting. It is a great weakness to want to bedeck oneself in qualities which are not his own. If he esteemed virtue above all other things, neither the favors of fortune nor the advantages of position would change a man's face or heart.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de SableSometimes we praise the way things used to be in order to blame the present, and we esteem what is no longer in order to scorn what is.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de SableIt is a very common failing, never to be pleased with our fortune nor displeased with our character.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de SableIt is such a great fault to talk too much that, in business and conversation, if what is good is also brief, it is doubly good, and one gains by brevity what one often loses by an excess of words.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de SableThere are people so blind and self-absorbed in all matters that they always believe that, whatever they desire or think, they can impose their will on other people. Whatever bad reason they use to persuade others, these self-centered people are so caught up in the process that it seems to them all they have to do is to speak their wishes in a lofty and commanding tone of voice in order to convince everybody.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable