Nicolas Chamfort Quotes

157 Sourced Quotes

Chance is a nickname of Providence.

Nicolas Chamfort

Vain is equivalent to empty; thus vanity is so miserable a thing, that one cannot give it a worse name than its own. It proclaims itself for what it is.

Nicolas Chamfort

Nearly all men are slaves for the same reason that the Spartans assigned for the servitude of the Persians -- lack of power to pronounce the syllable, "No." To be able to utter that word and live alone, are the only means to preserve one's freedom and one's character.

Nicolas Chamfort

Hope is but a charlatan that ceases not to deceive us. For myself happiness only began when I had lost it.

Nicolas Chamfort

In order to forgive reason for the evil it has wrought on the majority of men, we must imagine for ourselves what man would be without his reason. 'Tis a necessary evil.

Nicolas Chamfort

Tis easier to make certain things legal than to make them legitimate.

Nicolas Chamfort

The new friends whom we make after attaining a certain age and by whom we would fain replace those whom we have lost, are to our old friends what glass eyes, false teeth and wooden legs are to real eyes, natrual teeth and legs of flesh and bone.

Nicolas Chamfort

Nicolas Chamfort

Nicolas Chamfort

Creative Commons

Born: April 6, 1741

Died: April 13, 1794 (aged 53)

Bio: Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, also known as Chamfort, was a French writer, best known for his witty epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVI's sister, and of the Jacobin club.

Most used words:

Nicolas Chamfort on Wikipedia

Suggest an edit or a new quote

Nicolas Chamfort Quotes

Nicolas Chamfort Short Quotes

French Journalist Quotes

Journalist Quotes

18th-century Journalist Quotes