Luc de Clapiers
Luc de Clapiers
Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargueswas a minor French writer, a moralist. He died at age 31, in broken health, having published the year prior—anonymously—a collection of essays and aphorisms with the encouragement of Voltaire, his friend. He first received public notice under his own name in 1797, and from 1857 on, his aphorisms became popular. In the history of French literature, his significance lies chiefly in his friendship with Voltaire...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth6 August 1715
CountryFrance
It is good to be firm by temperament and pliant by reflection.
The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.
We often quarrel with the unfortunate to get rid of pitying them.
The usual pretext of those who make others unhappy is that they do it for their own good.
One can not be just if one is not humane.
Clarity is the counterbalance of profound thoughts.
Peace renders nations happier and men weaker.
We discover in ourselves what others hide from us and we recognize in others what we hide from ourselves...
If anyone accuses me of contradicting myself, I shall reply; I have been wrong once or more often, however I do not aspire to be always wrong.
The lazy are always wanting to do something.
Necessity relieves us from the embarrassment of choice.
Courage is adversity's lamp.
As a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver, and a door a carpenter, so does the existence of the Universe imply a Creator.
Every thought is new when an author expresses it in a manner peculiar to himself.