Quotes By Author
Quotations By François La Rochefoucauld
Ability
There is great ability in knowing how to conveal one's ability.
Ability
Ability wins us the esteem of the true men; luck that of the people.
Absence
Absence cools moderate passions, and inflames violent ones; just as the wind blows out candles, but kindles fires.
Age
Age is a tyrant, who forbids, at the penalty of life, all the pleasures of youth.
Avarice
Avarice is more directly opposed to thrift than generosity is.
Beliefs
Those who obstinately oppose the most widely held opinions more often do so because of pride than lack of intelligence. They find the best places in the right set already taken, and they do not want backseats.
Boldness
The passions do very often give birth to others of a nature most contrary to their own. Thus avarice sometimes brings forth prodigality, and prodigality avarice; a man’s resolution is very often the effect of levity, and his boldness that of cowardice and fear.
Bore
We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.
Courage
Perfect valour consists in doing without witnesses that which we would be capable of doing before everyone.
Cunning
Cunning and treachery are the offspring of incapacity. -- François La Rochefoucauld
Envy
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
Expectation
Our desires always disappoint us; forthough we meet with something that gives us satisfaction, yet it never thoroughly answers our expectation.
Friendship
It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them. -- François La Rochefoucauld
Humility
Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble.
Love
Sometimes we are less unhappy in being deceived by those we love, than in being undeceived by them.
Love
There is only one sort of love, but there are a thousand copies.
Love
True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen.
Marriage
There may be good, but there are no pleasant marriages.
Moderation
Moderation has been called a virtue to limit the ambition of great men, and to console undistinguished people for their want of fortune and their lack of merit.
Philosophy
Philosophy triumphs easily over past and future evils; but present evils triumph over it. -- François La Rochefoucauld
Selfishness
The virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in the sea. -- François La Rochefoucauld
Success
To establish ourselves in the world, we have to do all we can to appear established. To succeed in the world, we do everything we can to appear successful.
Talk
True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary.
Vice
Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised. -- François La Rochefoucauld