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...
general good ideas man plenty soldiers
A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas any more than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers
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.
men intelligent ideas
A man is not necessarily intelligent because he has plenty of ideas, any more than he is a good general because he has plenty of soldiers.
ideas able majority
One can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be idiocy because it has been able to appeal to the majority
ideas numbers mediocrity
A good number of works owe their success to the mediocrity of their authors' ideas, which match the mediocrity of those of the general public.
appetite composed dinners great society
Society is composed of two great classes: those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners
knowledge last men merely passions
Passions make men live, knowledge merely makes them last
books books-and-reading overnight seem today written
Most books today seem to have been written overnight from books read that day
best eat eating picking quotations quotes
Most anthologists... of quotations are like those who eat cherries... first picking the best ones and winding up by eating everything.
days wasted
The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.
wasted
The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed.
french-writer laughed surely
Of all days, the day on which one has not laughed is the one most surely wasted.
appetite composed dinners great society
Society is composed of two great classes those who have more dinners than appetite, and those who have more appetite than dinners.
failure intelligent energy
A person of intellect without energy added to it, is a failure.