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
Silence is the best tactic for he who distrusts himself.
It requires no small degree of ability to know when to conceal one's ability.
Our actions are like blank rhymes, to which everyone applies what sense he pleases.
The ambitious deceive themselves in proposing an end to their ambition; that end, when attained, becomes a means.
We easily forget crimes that are known to none but ourselves.
Those who have the most cunning affect all their lives to condemn cunning; that they may make use of it on some great occasion, and to some great end.
For envy, like lightning, generally strikes at the top Or any point which sticks out from the ordinary level. LUCRETIUS, De Rerum Natura Our envy always outlives the felicity of its object.
Old fools are greater fools than young ones.
Fortune never seems so blind to any as to those on whom she bestows no favors.
Tis more dishonourable to distrust a friend than to be deceived by him.
The better part of one's life consists of his friendships. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, letter to Joseph Gillespie, July 13, 1849 Friendship is insipid to those who have experienced love.
Though most of the friendships of the world ill deserve the name of friendships; yet a man may make use of them on occasion, as of a traffic whose returns are uncertain, and in which 'tis usual to be cheated.
Misers mistake gold for their good; whereas 'tis only a means of attaining it.
We take less pains to be happy, than to appear so.