Quotes By Jean De La Bruyere

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

It is boorish to live ungraciously: the giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile?

A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought.

The regeneration of society is the regeneration of society by individual education.

He who tip-toes cannot stand; he who strides cannot walk.

We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.