François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

A sure way to arouse love is to love very little yourself.

There are foolish people who recognize their foolishness and use it skillfully.

Lovers are never tired of each other, — they always speak of themselves.

Hay cosas bellas que tienen más brillo cuando permanecen imperfectas que cuando están muy acabadas

357. — Little minds are too much wounded by little things; great minds see all and are not even hurt.

There are persons of whom the world approves who have no merit beyond the vices they use in the affairs of life.

We find very few ungrateful people when we are able to confer favours.

Very clever men pretend all their lives to condemn trickery so that, at a crucial moment and for a large stake, they may indulge in it.

Nous craignons toutes choses comme mortels, et nous désirons toutes choses comme si nous étions immortels.

The heat of youth is not more opposed to safety than the coldness of age.

L'homme croit souvent se conduire lorsqu'il est conduit; et pendant que par son esprit il tend à un but, son coeur l'entraîne insensiblement à un autre.

Les gens heureux ne se corrigent guère; ils croient toujours avoir raison quand la fortune soutient leur mauvaise conduite.

We hardly find any persons of good sense, save those who agree with us.

Confidence always pleases those who receive it. It is a tribute we pay to their merit, a deposit we commit to their trust, a pledge which gives them a claim upon us, a kind of dependence to which we voluntarily submit. I do not wish from what I have said to depreciate confidence, so necessary to man.

Self-control is a dread of that scorn and envy which people, overcome by their own happiness, deserve. It is a vain display of our moral strength. Self-control, in a word, is the desire of most successful men to appear greater than their achievements.