A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Few are agreeable in conversation, because each thinks more of what he intends to say than of what others are saying, and listens no more when he himself has a chance to speak.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Few things are impracticable in themselves; and it is for want of application, rather than of means, that men fail to succeed.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Hypocrisy is the homage which vice pays to virtue.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
If we had no faults of our own, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of others.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Jealousy feeds upon suspicion, and it turns into fury or it ends as soon as we pass from suspicion to certainty.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Many people despise wealth, but few know how to give it away.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Nothing is less sincere than our mode of asking and giving advice. He who asks seems to have a deference for the opinion of his friend, while he only aims to get approval of his own and make his friend responsible for his action. And he who gives advice repays the confidence supposed to be placed in him by a seemingly disinterested zeal, while he seldom means anything by his advice but his own interest or reputation.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld
One cannot answer for his courage when he has never been in danger.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Our repentance is not so much regret for the ill we have done as fear of the ill that may happen to us in consequence.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Preserving health by too severe a rule is a worrisome malady.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Small minds are much distressed by little things. Great minds see them all but are not upset by them.
Francois 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.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The passions are the only orators that always persuade.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The passions often engender their contraries.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The pleasure of love is in loving.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
To establish oneself in the world, one has to do all one can to appear established.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We should manage our fortunes as we do our health - enjoy it when good, be patient when it is bad, and never apply violent remedies except in an extreme necessity.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood our motives.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld
When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
When we are unable to find tranquillity within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Maximes (1678)
However brilliant an action, it should not be esteemed great unless the result of a great motive.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, 1665
It is a great ability to be able to conceal one's ability.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims, 1665
