Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillacla ʁɔʃfuˈko]; 15 September 1613 – 17 March 1680) was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs. It is said that his world-view was clear-eyed and urbane, and that he neither condemned human conduct nor sentimentally celebrated it. Born in Paris on the Rue des Petits Champs, at a time when the royal court was vacillating between aiding the nobility and threatening it, he was considered an exemplar of the accomplished 17th-century...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth15 September 1613
CountryFrance
Tis a sort of coquetry to boast that we never coquet.
However wicked men may be, they do not dare openly to appear the enemies of virtue, and when they desire to persecute her they either pretend to believe her false or attribute crimes to her.
People are often vain of their passions, even of the worst, but envy is a passion so timid and shame-faced that no one ever dare avow her.
A gentleman may love like a lunatic, but not like a beast.
Our envy always outlives the felicity of its object.
There are certain defects which, well-mounted, glitter like virtue itself.
We had better appear what we are, than affect to appear what we are not.
Jealousy is in a manner just and reasonable, as it tends to preserve a good which belongs, or which we believe belongs to us, on the other hand envy is a fury which cannot endure the happiness of others.
Passion often renders the most clever man a fool, and sometimes renders the most foolish man clever.
We love much better those who endeavor to imitate us, than those who strive to equal us. For imitation is a sign of esteem, but competition of envy.
We should not be much concerned about faults we have the courage to own.
The evil that we do does not attract to us so much persecution and hatred as our good qualities.
Before we passionately desire a thing, we should examine the happiness of its possessor.
Most women lament not the death of their lovers so much out of real affection for them, as because they would appear worthy of love.