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We should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
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Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Age: 66 †
Born: 1613
Born: September 15
Died: 1680
Died: March 17
Memoirist
Military Personnel
Writer
Paris
France
François VI
Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Prince de Marcillac
François
Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Gains
Seem
Seems
Trying
World
Letting
Gain
More quotes by Francois de La Rochefoucauld
To praise princes for virtues they do not possess is to insult them without fear of consequences.
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Perseverance is neither praiseworthy nor blameworthy for it seems to be only the enduring of certain inclinations and opinions which men neither give themselves nor take away from themselves.
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Fortunate persons hardly ever amend their ways: they always imagine that they are in the right when fortune upholds their bad conduct.
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The most sure method of subjecting yourself to be deceived is to consider yourself more cunning than others.
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It is easier to rule others than to keep from being ruled oneself.
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When we disclaim praise, it is only showing our desire to be praised a second time.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.
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We sometimes differ more widely from ourselves than we do from others.
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For the credit of virtue we must admit that the greatest misfortunes of men are those into which they fall through their crimes.
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Absence abates a moderate passion and intensifies a great one - as the wind blows out a candle but fans fire into flame.
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Some good qualities are like the senses: Those who are entirely deprived of them can have no notion of them.
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Eloquence: saying the proper thing and stopping.
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We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
What makes lovers never tire of one another is that they talk always about themselves.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Confidence in conversation has a greater share than wit.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Few are sufficiently wise to prefer censure which is useful to praise which is treacherous.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The truest comparison we can make of love is to liken it to a fever we have no more power over the one than the other, either as to its violence or duration.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The person giving the advice returns the confidence placed in him with a disinterested eagerness... and he is usually guided only by his own interest or reputation.
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Love often leads on to ambition, but seldom does one return from ambition to love.
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Few things are impossible in themselves: application to make them succeed fails us more often than the means.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
