François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.

The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it.

Jealousy lives upon suspicion; and it turns into a fury or ends as soon as it passes from suspicion to certainty.

Friendship is only a reciprocal conciliation of interests, and an exchange of good offices; it is a species of commerce out of which self-love always expects to gain something.

Pour la plupart des hommes, l'amour de la justice n'est que la peur de subir l'injustice.

(For most men, the love of justice in only the fear of suffering injustice.)

It is not enough to succeed; others must fail.

We only confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no big ones.

As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.

Few are sufficiently wise to prefer censure which is useful to praise which is treacherous.

"87. — Men would not live long in society were they not the dupes of each other.

[A maxim, adds Aimé Martin, "Which may enter into the code of a vulgar rogue, but one is astonished to find it in a moral treatise." Yet we have scriptural authority for it: "Deceiving and being deceived." — 2 TIM. iii. 13.]"

Les vieillards aiment à donner de bons préceptes, pour se consoler de n'être plus en état de donner de mauvais exemples.

Louer les princes des vertus qu’ils n’ont pas, c’est leur dire impunément des injures.

Il est plus aisé de connaître l'homme en général que de connaître un homme en particulier.

158. — Flattery is base coin to which only our vanity gives currency.

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.