Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de la Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyèrewas a French philosopher and moralist...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPhilosopher
CountryFrance
book reading clock
To make a book is as much a trade as to make a clock; something more than intelligence is required to become an author.
reading judging feelings
When, after having read a work, loftier thoughts arise in your mind and noble and heartfelt feelings animate you, do not look for any other rule to judge it by; it is fine and written in a masterly manner.
book reading inspire
When a book raises your spirit, and inspires you with noble and manly thoughts, seek for no other test of its excellence. It is good, and made by a good workman.
stupid book reading
There is as much trickery required to grow rich by a stupid book as there is folly in buying it.
reading writing common-sense
The same common sense which makes an author write good things, makes him dread they are not good enough to deserve reading.
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.