Luc de
Luc de
endow evil fortune greatest inflict men small talents
The greatest evil which fortune can inflict on men is to endow them with small talents and great ambition.
men errors spheres
Our errors and our controversies, in the sphere of morality, arise sometimes from looking on men as though they could be altogether bad, or altogether good.
philosophy passion men
The falsest of all philosophies is that which, under the pretext of delivering men from the embarrassment of their passions, counsels idleness and the abandonment and neglect of themselves.
mean men practice
The generality of men are so bound within the sphere of their circumstances that they have not even the courage to get out of them through their ideas, and if we see a few whom, in a way, speculation over great things makes incapable of mean ones, we find still more with whom the practice of small things takes away the feeling for great ones.
men careers vanity
Men crowd into honorable careers without other vocation than their vanity, or at best their love of fame.
men vices sensible
It cannot be a vice in men to be sensible of their strength.
men intelligent doe
There does not exist a man sufficiently intelligent never to be tiresome.
men advice desire
It is unjust to exact that men shall do out of deference to our advice what they have no desire to do for themselves.
men doe wealth
A man can hardly be said to have made a fortune if he does not know how to enjoy it.
jesus philosophical men
Newton, Pascal, Bossuet, Racine, F?nelon -- that is to say, some of the most enlightened men on earth, in the most philosophical of all ages -- have been believers in Jesus Christ; and the great Cond?, when dying, repeated these noble words, "Yes, I shall see God as He is, face to face!".
time men
We must expect everything and fear everything from time and from men.
independent men order
In order to protect himself from force, man was obliged to submit to justice. Justice or force: he was compelled to choose between the two masters, so little are we made to be independent.
knowledge men desire
I do not approve the maxim which desires a man to know a little of everything. Superficial knowledge, knowledge without principles, is almost always useless and sometimes harmful knowledge.
men office mediocrity
Mediocre men sometimes fear great office, and when they do not aim at it, or when they refuse it, all that is to be concluded is that they are aware of their mediocrity.