Quotes By Jean De La Bruyere

Even the best intentioned of great men need a few scoundrels around them; there are some things you cannot ask an honest ma to do.

Politeness makes one appear outwardly as they should be within.

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.

Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well-timed.

Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.

Man has but three events in his life: to be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live.

It's motive alone which gives character to the actions of men.

The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth.

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.

Between good sense and good taste there lies the difference between a cause and its effect.

We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.

A position of eminence makes a great person greater and a small person less.

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

The court is like a palace of marble; it's composed of people very hard and very polished.

The pleasure we feel in criticizing robs us from being moved by very beautiful things.

Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.

There are only three events in a man's life; birth, life, and death; he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.

We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.

Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.

One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.

I would not like to see a person who is sober, moderate, chaste and just say that there is no God. They would speak disinterestedly at least, but such a person is not to be found.

We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.

A pious man is one who would be an atheist if the king were.

It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues.

Love and friendship exclude each other.

Out of difficulties grow miracles.

Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings.

A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.

A man can keep another's secret better than his own. A woman her own better than others.

One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.