A great many men's gratitude is nothing but a secret desire to hook in more valuable kindnesses hereafter.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A man who finds no satisfaction in himself, seeks for it in vain elsewhere.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A man's happiness or unhappiness depends as much on his temperament as on his destiny.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
A work can become modern only if it is first postmodern. Postmodernism thus understood is not modernism at its end but in the nascent state, and this state is constant.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
As great minds have the faculty of saying a great deal in a few words, so lesser minds have a talent of talking much, and saying nothing.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy they are who already possess it.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Being a blockhead is sometimes the best security against being cheated by a man of wit.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Few things are impracticable in themselves and it is for want of application, rather than of means, that men fail to succeed.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Great souls are not those who have fewer passions and more virtues than others, but only those who have greater designs.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things themselves; we are happy from possessing what we like, not from possessing what others like.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Heat of blood makes young people change their inclinations often, and habit makes old ones keep to theirs a great while.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Hope, deceiving as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of our lives by an agreeable route.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
However greatly we distrust the sincerity of those we converse with, yet still we think they tell more truth to us than to anyone else.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
I always say to myself, what is the most important thing we can think about at this extraordinary moment.Francois de La Rochefoucauld
