Quotes By Francois De La Rochefoucauld

We pardon to the extent that we love.

No man deserves to be praised for his goodness, who has it not in his power to be wicked. Goodness without that power is generally nothing more than sloth, or an impotence of will.

What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.

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

In the human heart new passions are forever being born; the overthrow of one almost always means the rise of another.

Conceit causes more conversation than wit.

A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

I have always been an admirer. I regard the gift of admiration as indispensable if one is to amount to something; I don't know where I would be without it.

That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.

There is nothing men are so generous of as advice.

Nothing prevents one from appearing natural as the desire to appear natural.

It's the height of folly to want to be the only wise one.

We are never so ridiculous through what we are as through what we pretend to be.

Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.

Philosophy finds it an easy matter to vanquish past and future evils, but the present are commonly too hard for it.

When a man is in love, he doubts, very often, what he most firmly believes.

The moderation of people in prosperity is the effect of a smooth and composed temper, owing to the calm of their good fortune.

We may seem great in an employment below our worth, but we very often look little in one that is too big for us.

If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.

There are heroes in evil as well as in good.

Perfect behavior is born of complete indifference.

There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not.

We always get bored with those whom we bore.

The surest way to be deceived is to consider oneself cleverer than others.

However rare true love may be, it is less so than true friendship.

There are few virtuous women who are not bored with their trade.

The intellect is always fooled by the heart.

It is almost always a fault of one who loves not to realize when he ceases to be loved.

We all have enough strength to endure the misfortunes of others.