We would often rather seem dutiful to others than to succeed in our duties; and often we would rather tell our friends that we have done them good than to do good in actuality.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de SableWhen High and Mighty people want to make us believe that they possess some good quality which they in fact do not have, it is dangerous to show that you doubt them; because, by removing their hope of deceiving the world, you also remove their desire to perform the good acts that might have arisen from their very pretensions.
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 SableTrue merit does not depend on the times or on fashion. Those who have no other advantage than courtly manners lose it when they are away from court. But good sense, knowledge, and wisdom make their possessors knowledgeable and beloved in all ages and in all times.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de SableIt is better that great peoples should seek out glory, or even vanity, in their deeds, than that they should remain indifferent . For even if they are not incited to act upon virtuous principles, at least there is the saving grace that they will do things they might not have done had not vanity prompted their actions.
Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable