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François de La Rochefoucauld

154 quotes

• “Though sincerity and confidence have many points of resemblance, they have yet many points of difference. Sincerity is an openness of heart, which shows us what we are, a love of truth, a dislike to deception, a wish to compensate our faults and to lessen them by the merit of confessing them.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Confidence always pleases those who receive it. It is a tribute we pay to their merit, a deposit we commit to their trust, a pledge which gives them a claim upon us, a kind of dependence to which we voluntarily submit. I do not wish from what I have said to depreciate confidence, so necessary to man.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We should make it a rule never to have half confidences. They always embarrass those who give them, and dissatisfy those who receive them. They shed an uncertain light on what we want hidden, increase curiosity, entitling the recipients to know more, giving them leave to consider themselves free to talk of what they have guessed. It is far safer and more honest to tell nothing than to be silent when we have begun to tell.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Satire is at once the most agreeable and most dangerous of mental qualities. It always pleases when it is refined, but we always fear those who use it too much, yet satire should be allowed when unmixed with spite, and when the person satirised can join in the satire. It is unfortunate to have a satirical turn without affecting to be pleased or without loving to jest.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Raillery is a kind of mirth which takes possession of the imagination, and shows every object in an absurd light; wit combines more or less softness or harshness.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The word taste has different meanings, which it is easy to mistake. There is a difference between the taste which in certain objects has an attraction for us, and the taste that makes us understand and distinguish the qualities we judge by.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We are sure to displease when we speak too long and too often of one subject, and when we try to turn the conversation upon subjects that we think more instructive than others, we should enter indifferently upon every subject that is agreeable to others, stopping where they wish, and avoiding all they do not agree with.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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 (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Few men, nevertheless, can have unison in many matters without being a copy of each other, if each follow his natural turn of mind. But in general a person will not wholly follow it. He loves to imitate. We often imitate the same person without perceiving it, and we neglect our own good qualities for the good qualities of others, which generally do not suit us.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “But, yet acquired qualities should always have a certain agreement and a certain union with our own natural qualities, which they imperceptibly extend and increase.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We should not speak of all subjects in one tone and in the same manner. We do not march at the head of a regiment as we walk on a promenade; and we should use the same style in which we should naturally speak of different things in the same way, with the same difference as we should walk, but always naturally, and as is suitable, either at the head of a regiment or on a promenade.=”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Thousands of people with good qualities are displeasing; thousands pleasing with far less abilities, and why? Because the first wish to appear to be what they are not, the second are what they appear. Some of the advantages or disadvantages that we have received from nature please in proportion as we know the air, the style, the manner, the sentiments that coincide with our condition and our appearance, and displease in the proportion they are removed from that point.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Nos vertus ne sont, le plus souvent, que de vices déguisés.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) first seen 1665 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Epigraph. Note: "This epigraph, which is the key to the system of La Rochefoucauld, is found in another form as No. 179 of the Maxims of the first edition, 1665; it is omitted from the second and third, and reappears fo…

• “Ce que nous prenons pour des vertus n'est souvent qu'un assemblage de diverses actions et de divers intérêts, que la fortune ou notre industrie savent arranger; et ce n'est pas toujours par valeur et par chasteté que les hommes sont vaillants, et que les femmes sont chastes.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “L'amour-propre est le plus grand de tous les flatteurs.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “La passion fait souvent un fou du plus habile homme, et rend souvent les plus sots habiles.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Les passions sont les seuls orateurs qui persuadent toujours. Elles sont comme un art de la nature dont les règles sont infaillibles; et l'homme le plus simple qui a de la passion persuade mieux que le plus éloquent qui n'en a point.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il y a dans le coeur humain une génération perpétuelle de passions, en sorte que la ruine de l'une est presque toujours l'établissement d'une autre.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Nous avons tous assez de force pour supporter les maux d'autrui.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “La philosophie triomphe aisément des maux passés et des maux à venir. Mais les maux présents triomphent d'elle.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il faut de plus grandes vertus pour soutenir la bonne fortune que la mauvaise.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder fixement.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Le mal que nous faisons ne nous attire pas tant de persécution et de haine que nos bonnes qualités.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Si nous n'avions point de défauts, nous ne prendrions pas tant de plaisir à en remarquer dans les autres.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “La jalousie se nourrit dans les doutes, et elle devient fureur, ou elle finit, sitôt qu'on passe du doute à la certitude.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Nous promettons selon nos espérances, et nous tenons selon nos craintes.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “L'intérêt parle toutes sortes de langues, et joue toutes sortes de personnages, même celui de désintéressé.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Ceux qui s'appliquent trop aux petites choses deviennent ordinairement incapables des grandes.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “L'homme croit souvent se conduire lorsqu'il est conduit; et pendant que par son esprit il tend à un but, son coeur l'entraîne insensiblement à un autre.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “On n'est jamais si heureux ni si malheureux qu'on s'imagine.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Pour s'établir dans le monde, on fait tout ce que l'on peut pour y paraître établi.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Le bonheur et le malheur des hommes ne dépend pas moins de leur humeur que de la fortune.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “La sincérité est une ouverture de coeur. On la trouve en fort peu de gens; et celle que l'on voit d'ordinaire n'est qu'une fine dissimulation pour attirer la confiance des autres.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “La bonne grâce est au corps ce que le bon sens est à l'esprit.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il est difficile de définir l'amour. Dans l'âme c'est une passion de régner, dans les esprits c'est une sympathie, et dans le corps ce n'est qu'une envie cachée et délicate de posséder ce que l'on aime après beaucoup de mystères.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il n’y a point de déguisement qui puisse longtemps cacher l’amour où il est, ni le feindre où il n’est pas.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il n'y a guère de gens qui ne soient honteux de s'être aimés, quand ils ne s'aiment plus.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Si on juge de l'amour par la plupart de ses effets, il ressemble plus à la haine qu'à l'amitié.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “On peut trouver des femmes qui n'ont jamais eu de galanterie; mais il est rare d'en trouver qui n'en aient jamais eu qu'une.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il n'y a qu'une sorte d'amour, mais il y en a mille différentes copies.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “L'amour aussi bien que le feu ne peut subsister sans un mouvement continuel; et il cesse de vivre dès qu'il cesse d'espérer ou de craindre.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il est du véritable amour comme de l'apparition des esprits: tout le monde en parle, mais peu de gens en ont vu.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “L'amour de la justice n'est en la plupart des hommes que la crainte de souffrir l'injustice.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Le silence est le parti le plus sûr de celui qui se défie de soi-même.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Ce que les hommes ont nommé amitié n'est qu'une société, qu'un ménagement réciproque d'intérêts, et qu'un échange de bons offices; ce n'est enfin qu'un commerce où l'amour-propre se propose toujours quelque chose à gagner.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Il est plus honteux de se défier de ses amis que d'en être trompé.”

  François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) said by 1680 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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