Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillacla ʁɔʃfuˈko]; 15 September 1613 – 17 March 1680) was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs. It is said that his world-view was clear-eyed and urbane, and that he neither condemned human conduct nor sentimentally celebrated it. Born in Paris on the Rue des Petits Champs, at a time when the royal court was vacillating between aiding the nobility and threatening it, he was considered an exemplar of the accomplished 17th-century...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth15 September 1613
CountryFrance
Francois de La Rochefoucauld quotes about
Hope and fear are inseparable.
The shame that arises from praise which we do not deserve often makes us do things we should otherwise never have attempted.
Bodily labor alleviates the pains of the mind and from this arises the happiness of the poor
The height of ability in the least able consists in knowing how to submit to the good leadership of others.
Folly pursues us at all periods of our lives. If someone seems wise it is only because his follies are proportionate to his age and fortune.
Flattery is a base coin which is current only through our vanity.
Gallantry of mind consists in saying flattering things in an agreeable manner.
We torment ourselves rather to make it appear that we are happy than to become so.
The happiness and unhappiness of men depends as much on their ethics as on fortune.
When fortune surprises us by giving us some great office without having gradually led us to expect it, or without having raised our hopes, it is well nigh impossible to occupy it well, and to appear worthy to fill it.
Avarice often produces opposite results: there are an infinite number of persons who sacrifice their property to doubtful and distant expectations; others mistake great future advantages for small present interests.
The qualities we have, make us so ridiculous as those which we affect.
To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils, but present evils triumph over it.