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 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.
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.
knowledge last men merely passions
Passions make men live, knowledge merely makes them last
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
french-writer laughed surely
Of all days, the day on which one has not laughed is the one most surely wasted.
failure intelligent energy
A person of intellect without energy added to it, is a failure.
death sleep literature
Living is a sickness to which sleep provides relief every sixteen hours. It's a palliative. The remedy is death.
foolish fools-and-foolishness
There are well-dressed foolish ideas, just as there are will-dressed fools.
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.
certain french-writer opinion opinions public worst
There are certain times when public opinion is the worst of all opinions.