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
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
A man's worth has its season, like fruit.
We are so used to dissembling with others that in time we come to deceive and dissemble with ourselves.
We are all strong enough to bear other men's misfortunes.
Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others.
There are very few people who are not ashamed of having been in love when they no longer love each other.
The first lover is kept a long while, when no offer is made of a second.
Only the contemptible fear contempt.
Moderation is the feebleness and sloth of the soul, whereas ambition is the warmth and activity of it.
It is not in the power of even the most crafty dissimulation to conceal love long, where it really is, nor to counterfeit it long where it is not.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
The desire to seem clever often keeps us from being so.
Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
We say little, when vanity does not make us speak.