François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

"En vieillissant on devient plus fou, et plus sage.

"Growing older, we become both wiser and more foolish.

C'est une espèce de coquetterie de faire remarquer qu'on n'en fait jamais.

Man is so wretched that, while he shapes all of his conduct to gratify his passions, he groans incessantly under their tyranny. He can endure neither their violence, nor the violence that he would have to inflict on himself in order to rid himself of their yoke. He is frustrated not only by his vices, but also by the things that would cure them; and he cannot come to terms either with the discomfort of his afflictions or with the task of curing himself.

Ordinary men commonly condemn what is beyond them.

Tout le monde se plaint de sa mémoire, et personne ne se plaint de son jugement.

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

The magnanimity of princes is often but a policy to gain the love of their people.

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

— The daily employment of cunning marks a little mind,

Quand on ne trouve pas son repos en soimême, il est inutile de le chercher ailleurs.

No hay más que una clase de amor, pero hay mil diferentes copias

Il faut écouter ceux qui parlent, si on veut en être écouté.

We find very few people of good sense, except those who are of our own opinion.

It is as easy unwittingly to deceive oneself as to deceive others.

Indolence, thoroughly languid though it be, very seldom fails to be master; it interferes with all our plans and actions, and gradually wears down and destroys our passions and our virtues.