Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyèrewas a French philosopher and moralist...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
CountryFrance
sanctuary mediocrity honest
I take sanctuary in an honest mediocrity.
children past childhood
Children have neither past nor future; and that which seldom happens to us, they rejoice in the present. [Fr., Les enfants n'ont ni passe ni avenir; et, ce qui ne nous arrive guere, ils jouissent du present.]
writing thinking mind
A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.
work ambition men
The slave has but one master, the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes.
happiness happy laughing
We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.
love together sad-valentines-day
We perceive when love begins and when it declines by our embarrassment when alone together.
inspirational time life-is-too-short
Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.
lying vanity modesty
False modesty is the refinement of vanity. It is a lie.
men tongue speak
It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues.
men religion littles
To what excesses do men rush for the sake of religion, of whose truth they are so little persuaded, and to whose precepts they pay so little regard!
thinking imagination phantoms
They who, without any previous knowledge of us, think amiss of us, do us no harm; they attack not us, but the phantom of their own imagination.
men mind preaching
Man makes up his mind he will preach, and he preaches.
powerful action excitement
Praise, of all things, is the most powerful excitement to commendable actions, and animates us in our enterprises.
death infinite eternity
What is certain in death is somewhat softened by what is uncertain; it is an indefiniteness in the time, which holds a certain relation to the infinite, and what is called eternity.