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
However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention.
They that apply themselves to trifling matters commonly become incapable of great ones.
Old people love to give good advice; it compensates them for their inability to set a bad example.
The defects and faults of 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, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Hope, deceiving as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of our lives by an agreeable route.
If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.
In the misfortunes of our best friends we always find something not altogether displeasing to us.
Some accidents there are in life that a little folly is necessary to help us out of.
The mind cannot long play the heart's role.
If we have not peace within ourselves, it is in vain to seek it from outward sources.
We come altogether fresh and raw into the several stages of life, and often find ourselves without experience, despite our years.
Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.