Chamfort
Chamfort
Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, also known as Chamfort, was a French writer, best known for his witty epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVI's sister, and of the Jacobin club...
wasted
The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed.
men may literature
Man may aspire to virtue, but he cannot reasonably aspire to truth.
vanity littles sells
The great always sell their society to the vanity of the little.
friends real eye
The new friends whom we make after attaining a certain age and by whom we would fain replace those whom we have lost, are to our old friends what glass eyes, false teeth and wooden legs are to real eyes, natrual teeth and legs of flesh and bone.
life men novices
Man reaches each stage of his life as a novice.
ambition stupidity serious
Love, a pleasant folly; ambition, a serious stupidity.
men victory gains
Woman's weakness, not man's merit, oftenest gains the suitor's victory.
weakness
We justly consider women to be weaker than ourselves, and yet we are governed by them.
reign violence reason
Where violence reigns, reason is weak.
book reflection given
What one knows best is ... what one has learned not from books but as a result of books, through the reflections to which they have given rise.
heart world break
Contact with the world either breaks or hardens the heart.
book ideas cynical
The success of many books is due to the affinity between the mediocrity of the author's ideas and those of the public.
women thinking evil
Whatever evil a man may think of women, there is no woman but thinks more.
history attention anecdotes
There is no history worthy attention save that of free nations; the history of nations under the sway of despotism is no more than a collection of anecdotes.