Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyèrewas a French philosopher and moralist...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
CountryFrance
lying drawing conversation
The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out of others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you.
conversation egotism subjects
Avoid making yourself the subject of conversation.
spirit conversation deals
The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself.
littles conversation cunning
Amongst such as out of cunning hear all and talk little, be sure to talk less; or if you must talk, say little.
resources conversation charm
The great charm of conversation consists less in the display of one's own wit and intelligence than in the power to draw forth the resources of others.
ambitious french-philosopher man masters people useful
A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many masters as there are people who may be useful in bettering his position.
french-philosopher man miss necessary
No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends, as to give them no cause to miss him less.
belief discovers french-writer god
The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence.
fear laugh laughed
We must laugh before we are happy, for fear of dying without having laughed at all.
children happens neither nor seldom thus
Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.
atheist kings men
A pious man is one who would be an atheist if the king were.
world fame pursuit
There is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work.
honor way popularity
There is what is called the highway to posts and honor, and there is a cross and by way, which is much the shortest.
infinite eternity certain
Whatever is certain in death is slightly alleviated by what is not so infallible; the time when it shall happen is undefined, but it is more or less connected with the infinite, and what we call eternity.