François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

The defects of the mind are
like the wounds of the body. Whatever care we take to heal them the scars ever remain, and there is always danger of their reopening.

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

Perfect valour is to do without witnesses what
one would do before all the world.

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

Il est plus difficile de dissimuler les sentiments que l'on a que de feindre ceux que l'on n'a pas.

The labour of the body frees us from the pains of the mind, and thus makes the poor happy.

Thousands of people with good qualities are displeasing; thousands pleasing with far less abilities, and why? Because the first wish to appear to be what they are not, the second are what they appear. Some of the advantages or disadvantages that we have received from nature please in proportion as we know the air, the style, the manner, the sentiments that coincide with our condition and our appearance, and displease in the proportion they are removed from that point.

— A man for whom accident discovers sense, is not a rational being. A man only is so who understands, who distinguishes, who tests it.

There are people we cannot think ill of without proof of their misdeeds, but nobody's misdeeds should ever surprise us.

Il arrive quelquefois des accidents dans la vie d'où il faut être un peu fou pour se bien tirer.

We should never say anything with an air of authority, nor show any superiority of mind. We should avoid far-fetched expressions, expressions hard or forced, and never let the words be grander than the matter.

There are few people who are more often wrong than those who cannot suffer being wrong.

Pour s'établir dans le monde, on fait tout ce que l'on peut pour y paraître établi.

Some beautiful things are more impressive when left imperfect than when than when too highly finished

350. — Why we hate with so much bitterness those who deceive us is because they think themselves more clever than we are.