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
Reason alone is insufficient to make us enthusiastic in any matter.
The wind which snuffs the candle fans the fire.
Misers mistake gold for their good; whereas 'tis only a means of attaining it.
There are certain defects which, well-mounted, glitter like virtue itself.
Women in love sooner forgive great indiscretions than small infidelities.
There is a kind of love, the excess of which forbids jealousy.
Whatever ignominy or disgrace we have incurred, it is almost always in our power to reestablish our reputation.
We are almost always wearied in the company of persons with whom we are not permitted to be weary.
The intellect of the generality of women serves more to fortify their folly than their reason.
Moderation resembles temperance. We are not so unwilling to eat more, as afraid of doing ourselves harm by it.
Our probity is not less at the mercy of fortune than our property.
In misfortune we often mistake dejection for constancy; we bear it without daring to look on it; like cowards, who suffer themselves to be murdered without resistance.
What often prevents our abandoning ourselves to a single vice is, our having more than one.
Some follies are caught, like contagious diseases.