Francois VI Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Francois VI Duc de La Rochefoucauld
discharge great hurry obligation
Too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.
flatterer french-writer greatest
Self-love is the greatest flatterer in the world.
brilliant great result unless viewed
How ever a brilliant an action, it should not be viewed as great unless it is the result of a great motive.
absence blows candles great increases mediocre passions wind
Absence weakens mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and kindles fires.
absence candles diminishes fans great increases passions wind
Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.
born certain envy great qualities sign
The most certain sign of being born with great qualities is to be born without envy
bringing contagious evil example good great
Nothing is so contagious as an example. We never do great good or evil without bringing about more of the same on the part of others.
cleverness conceal great
It is great cleverness to know how to conceal our cleverness.
acquire fame great judged means men ought
The fame of great men ought to be judged always by the means they used to acquire it.
french-writer frequently vices virtues
Our virtues are most frequently but vices in disguise.
becomes doubt entirely madness pass soon stops
Live on doubts; it becomes madness or stops entirely as soon as we pass from doubt to certainty.
admire love whom
We love those who admire us, but not those whom we admire.
admire french-writer love
We always love those that admire us, but we do not always love those we admire.
detail good happened last memory recall
Why is our memory good enough to recall to the last detail things that have happened to us, yet not good enough to recall how often we have told them to the same person.