Luc de Clapiers
Luc de Clapiers
Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargueswas a minor French writer, a moralist. He died at age 31, in broken health, having published the year prior—anonymously—a collection of essays and aphorisms with the encouragement of Voltaire, his friend. He first received public notice under his own name in 1797, and from 1857 on, his aphorisms became popular. In the history of French literature, his significance lies chiefly in his friendship with Voltaire...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth6 August 1715
CountryFrance
We are forced to respect the gifts of nature, which study and fortune cannot give.
You can purchase the mind of Pascal for a crown. Pleasures even cheaper are sold to those who give themselves up to them. It is only luxuries and objects of caprice that are rare and difficult to obtain; unfortunately they are the only things that touch the curiosity and taste of ordinary men.
The counsels of old age give light without heat, like the sun in winter.
One promises much, to avoid giving little.
Generosity gives assistance, rather than advice.
Give help rather than advice.
The counsels of the old, like the winter sun, shine, but give no heat.
If passion sometimes counsels greater boldness than does reflection, it gives more strength to execute it.
Conscience, the organ of feeling which dominates us and of the opinions which rule us, is presumptuous in the strong, timid in the weak and unfortunate, uneasy in the undecided.
Despair puts the last touch not only to our misery but also to our weakness.
The greatest evil which fortune can inflict on men is to endow them with small talents and great ambition.
We should expect the best and the worst of mankind, as from the weather.
Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good.
The wicked are always surprised to find ability in the good.