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
Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them.
It is easy to be wise on behalf of others than to be so for ourselves.
It is great folly to wish to be wise all alone.
The strongest symptom of wisdom in man is his being sensible of his own follies.
As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.
It's the height of folly to want to be the only wise one.
It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.
Nothing is given so profusely as advice.
The constancy of sages is nothing but the art of locking up their agitation in their hearts.
We give advice, but we cannot give the wisdom to profit by it.
Our wisdom lies as much at the mercy of fortune as our possessions do.
As we grow older, we increase in folly--and in wisdom.
The desire to be thought clever often prevents a man from becoming so.
To think to be wise alone is a very great folly.