Francois VI Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Francois VI Duc de La Rochefoucauld
complains judgment-and-judges nobody
Everyone complains of the badness of his memory, but nobody of his judgment.
acquire fame great judged means men ought
The fame of great men ought to be judged always by the means they used to acquire it.
discharge great hurry obligation
Too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.
finds man peace seek useless within
When a man finds no peace within himself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
constancy cute-love giving heart itself love perpetual preference sweet-love
Constancy in love is a perpetual inconstancy, in which the heart attaches itself successively to each of the lover's qualities, giving preference now to one, now to another.
credit except good opinions persons scarcely
We credit scarcely any persons with good sense except those who are of our opinion.
absence blows candles great increases mediocre passions wind
Absence weakens mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind blows out candles and kindles fires.
absence candles diminishes fans great increases passions wind
Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.
born certain envy great qualities sign
The most certain sign of being born with great qualities is to be born without envy
approach enemies judgments nearer truth
Our enemies approach nearer to truth in their judgments of us than we do ourselves.
faithful love remain struggle undergo
The struggle we undergo to remain faithful to one we love is little better than infidelity.
argument fault last lay quarrels
Quarrels would not last so long if the fault lay only on one side.
evil good order
We often do good in order that we may do evil with impunity.
actions ashamed behind finest motives understood
We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood all the motives behind them.