François de La Rochefoucauld Quotes

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Neither love nor fire can subsist without perpetual motion; both cease to live so soon as they cease to hope, or to fear.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Who lives without folly is not as wise as he thinks.

François de La Rochefoucauld
How can we expect others to keep our secrets if we cannot keep them ourselves?

François de La Rochefoucauld
In the misfortune of our best friends we often find something that is not displeasing.

François de La Rochefoucauld
To refuse to accept praise is to want to be praised twice over.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The stamp of great minds is to suggest much in few words, so, contrariwise, little minds have the gift of talking a great deal and saying nothing.

François de La Rochefoucauld
How can we expect another to keep our secret, when it is more than we can do ourselves?

François de La Rochefoucauld
Everyone complains about his memory, and no one complains about his judgment.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We have not always enough reason to employ all our strength.

François de La Rochefoucauld
One must not just have great qualities, but also economize them

François de La Rochefoucauld
It is as easy to deceive ourselves without noticing as it is hard to deceive others without their noticing.

François de La Rochefoucauld
What often prevents us from abandoning ourselves to one vice is that we have several.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We hardly find any persons of good sense save those who agree with us.

François de La Rochefoucauld
It is not always for virtue's sake that women are virtuous.

François de La Rochefoucauld
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.

François de La Rochefoucauld
When our hatred is too bitter it places us below those whom we hate.

François de La Rochefoucauld
What renders the vanity of others unbearable to us is the wound it inflicts on ours.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Some condemnations praise; some praise damns.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The love of justice in most men is simply the fear of suffering injustice.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Temperance is the love of health — or the inability to eat or drink much.

François de La Rochefoucauld
There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand different versions.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Were we perfectly acquainted with our idol, we should never passionately desire it.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all of the motives which produced them.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We are by no means aware how much we are influenced by our passions.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Passion often makes a fool of the wisest man, and often makes the greatest fools wise.

François de La Rochefoucauld
In friendship and in love, one is often happier because of what one does not know than what one knows.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Civility is a desire to receive civility, and to be accounted well bred.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Everyone complains of his memory, and no one complains of his judgement.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Old people like to give good advice, as solace for no longer being able to provide bad examples.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The reason why lovers never weary of each other's company is because they speak always of themselves.

François de La Rochefoucauld