Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyèrewas a French philosopher and moralist...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
CountryFrance
loyalty party men
Party loyalty lowers the greatest men to the petty level of the masses.
expression sublime mind
The sublime only paints the true, and that too in noble objects; it paints it in all its phases, its cause and its effect; it is the most worthy expression or image of this truth. Ordinary minds cannot find out the exact expression, and use synonymes.
real character men
False modesty is the masterpiece of vanity: showing the vain man in such an illusory light that he appears in the reputation of the virtue quite opposite to the vice which constitutes his real character; it is a deceit.
loneliness spring being-alone
All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.
life hate grief
Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.
mediocrity speech painting
There are certain things in which mediocrity is intolerable: poetry, music, painting, public eloquence. What torture it is to hear a frigid speech being pompously declaimed, or second-rate verse spoken with all a bad poet's bombast!
life pain unhappy
If our life is unhappy it is painful to bear; if it is happy it is horrible to lose, So the one is pretty equal to the other.
spring ignorance vanity
Discourtesy does not spring merely from one bad quality, but from several--from foolish vanity, from ignorance of what is due to others, from indolence, from stupidity, from distraction of thought, from contempt of others, from jealousy.
property all-things lawsuit
Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.
truth honesty contrary
The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth.
beautiful criticism pleasure
The pleasure we feel in criticizing robs us from being moved by very beautiful things.
appreciation men wish
Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued.
lying giving generosity
Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.
sound-judgment world pearls
Next to sound judgment, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.