François de La Rochefoucauld - Mind Quotes

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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
A weak mind is the only defect out of our power to mend.

François de La Rochefoucauld
What grace is to the body, good sense is to the mind.

François de La Rochefoucauld
It is difficult to define love. In the soul it is a passion to rule; in the mind it is sympathy; and in the body it is only a hidden and tactful desire to possess what we love after many mysteries.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The accent of one's birthplace lingers in the mind and in the heart as it does in one's speech.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Youth is a perpetual intoxication; it is a fever of the mind

François de La Rochefoucauld
The defects and faults in the mind are like wounds in the body. After all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind.

François de La Rochefoucauld
All men want to be different, and to be greater than they are; they seek for an air other than their own, and a mind different from what they possess; they take their style and manner at chance. They make experiments upon themselves without considering that what suits one person will not suit everyone, that there is no universal rule for taste or manners, and that there are no good copies.

François de La Rochefoucauld
There is a difference between an ardent and a brilliant mind, a fiery spirit travels further and faster, while a brilliant mind is sparkling, attractive, accurate.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Those who know their minds do not know their hearts.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Small minds are hurt by the smallest things.

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
Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.

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
It is better to set one's mind to bearing the misfortunes that are happening than to think of those that may happen.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Everyone speaks well of his heart; no one dares speak well of his mind.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Gravity is a stratagem invented to conceal the poverty of the mind.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The mind is always the dupe of the heart.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Though the gifts of the mind are infinite, they can, it seems to me, be thus classified. There are some so beautiful that everyone can see and feel their beauty. There are some lovely, it is true, but which are wearisome. There are some which are lovely, which all the world admire, but without knowing why. There are some so refined and delicate that few are capable even of remarking all their beauties. There are others which, though imperfect, yet are produced with such skill, and sustained and managed with such sense and grace, that they even deserve to be admired.

François de La Rochefoucauld
A man will often believe himself a leader when he is led; while with his mind he endeavors to reach one goal, his heart insensibly drags him toward another.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Every one speaks well of his heart, but no one dares to speak well of his mind.

François de La Rochefoucauld
The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.

François de La Rochefoucauld
Inconstancy is sometimes due to levity of mind, but oftener to satiety.

François de La Rochefoucauld