Francois VI Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Francois VI Duc de La Rochefoucauld
depends happiness humorous men
The happiness or unhappiness of men depends as much on their humors as on fortune.
jealousy
In jealousy there is more of self-love than love.
complains judgment-and-judges nobody
Everyone complains of the badness of his memory, but nobody of his judgment.
appearance desire natural prevents seem
Nothing so much prevents our being natural as the desire to seem so.
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.
bringing contagious evil example good great
Nothing is so contagious as an example. We never do great good or evil without bringing about more of the same on the part of others.
finds man peace seek useless within
When a man finds no peace within himself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.
condition french-writer people render seldom ungrateful
We seldom find people ungrateful so long as we are in a condition to render them service.
credit except good opinions persons scarcely
We credit scarcely any persons with good sense except those who are of our opinion.
discharge great hurry obligation
Too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.
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.
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.
approach enemies judgments nearer truth
Our enemies approach nearer to truth in their judgments of us than we do ourselves.