Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyèrewas a French philosopher and moralist...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
CountryFrance
doe vices virtue
No vice exists which does not pretend to be more or less like some virtue, and which does not take advantage of this assumed resemblance.
heart two people
Some people pretend they never were in love and never wrote poetry; two weaknesses which they dare not own -- one of the heart, the other of the mind.
money heirs
When we lavish our money we rob our heir; when we merely save it we rob ourselves.
party men spirit
A party spirit betrays the greatest men to act as meanly as the vulgar herd.
passion men overcoming
Nothing is easier for passion than to overcome reason, but the greatest triumph is to conquer a man's own interests.
writing justice perfection
He who only writes to suit the taste of the age, considers himself more than his writings. We should always aim at perfection, and then posterity will do us that justice which sometimes our contemporaries refuse us.
writing advice pedants
He who will not listen to any advice, nor be corrected in his writings, is a rank pedant.
infinite eternity certain
Whatever is certain in death is slightly alleviated by what is not so infallible; the time when it shall happen is undefined, but it is more or less connected with the infinite, and what we call eternity.
distance lying names
All the worth of some people lies in their name; upon a closer inspection it dwindles to nothing, but from a distance it deceives us.
hate loss love-is
To bewail the loss of a person we love is a happiness compared with the necessity of living with one we hate.
christian people style
A preacher must have some intelligence to charm the people by his florid style, by his exhilarating system of morality, by the repetition of his figures of speech, his brilliant remarks and vivid descriptions ; but, after all, he has not too much of it, for if he possessed some of the right quality he would neglect these extraneous ornaments, unworthy of the Gospel, and preach naturally, forcibly, and like a Christian.
grief compassion mind
A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.
aversion forgetfulness wounds
Love receives its death-wound from aversion, and forgetfulness buries it.
spirit conversation deals
The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself.