François de La Rochefoucauld - Find Quotes

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In the adversity of our best friends we often find something that is not exactly displeasing.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We should observe the place, the occasion, the temper in which we find the person who listens to us, for if there is much art in speaking to the purpose, there is no less in knowing when to be silent. There is an eloquent silence which serves to approve or to condemn, there is a silence of discretion and of respect. In a word, there is a tone, an air, a manner, which renders everything in conversation agreeable or disagreeable, refined or vulgar.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We may find women who have never indulged in an intrigue, but it is rare to find those who have intrigued but once.

François de La Rochefoucauld
We rarely find that people have good sense unless they agree with us.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Although all the qualities of mind may be united in a great genius, yet there are some which are special and peculiar to him; his views are unlimited; he always acts uniformly and with the same activity; he sees distant objects as if present; he comprehends and grasps the greatest, sees and notices the smallest matters; his thoughts are elevated, broad, just and intelligible. Nothing escapes his observation, and he often finds truth in spite of the obscurity that hides her from others. A lofty mind always thinks nobly, it easily creates vivid, agreeable, and natural fancies, places them in their best light, clothes them with all appropriate adornments, studies others' tastes, and clears away from its own thoughts all that is useless and disagreeable.

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

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

François de La Rochefoucauld
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.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The reason why so few women are touched by friendship is, that they find it dull when they have experienced love.

François de La Rochefoucauld
There is an air which belongs to the figure and talents of each individual; we always lose it when we abandon it to assume another. We should try to find out what air is natural to us and never abandon it, but make it as perfect as we can. This is the reason that the majority of children please. It is because they are wrapt up in the air and manner nature has given them, and are ignorant of any other. They are changed and corrupted when they quit infancy, they think they should imitate what they see, and they are not altogether able to imitate it. In this imitation there is always something of falsity and uncertainty. They have nothing settled in their manner and opinions. Instead of being in reality what they want to appear, they seek to appear what they are not.

François de La Rochefoucauld