François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

What society calls virtue is for the most part a mere phantom conjured by our passions; we give it a respectable name so that we can do what we like with impunity.

Where love is, no disguise can hide it for very long; where it is not, none can simulate it.

Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it.

Le plus grand défaut de la pénétration n'est pas de n'aller point jusqu'au but, c'est de le passer.

469. — We never desire earnestly what we desire in reason.

La vérité ne fait pas tant de bien dans le monde que ses apparences y font de mal.

It is a kind of happiness to know just how unhappy we could be.

It is more necessary to study men than books.

The reason that there are so few good conversationalists is that most people are thinking about what they are going to say and not about what the others are saying.

Love, like ghosts, is often spoken of, but rarely seen.

How shall we hope that another person will keep our secret if we do not keep it ourselves.

Luck and temper rule the world.

Sometimes it is pleasant for a husband to have a jealous wife: he always hears what he loves being talked about.

If we ever admit our shortcomings it is through vanity

Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.