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Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives.
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
Many
Motive
Acts
Ridiculous
Behinds
Behind
Wise
Lying
Weighty
Thought
Motives
More quotes by Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Ideas often flash across our minds more complete than we could make them after much labor.
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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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Selfishness is the grand moving principle of nine-tenths of our actions.
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If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.
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All our qualities, whether good or bad, are unstable and ambiguous, and almost all are at the mery of chance.
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To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.
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A man would rather say evil of himself than say nothing.
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Humility is often a false front we employ to gain power over others.
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Eloquence: saying the proper thing and stopping.
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Indolence, languid as it is, often masters both passions and virtues.
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Youth is a perpetual intoxication it is a fever of the mind.
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Second-rate minds usually condemn everything beyond their grasp.
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It is easier to deceive yourself, and to do so unperceived, than to deceive another.
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A lofty mind always thinks nobly, it easily creates vivid, agreeable, and natural fancies, places them in their best light, clothes them with all appropriate adornments, studies others' tastes, and clears away from its own thoughts all that is useless and disagreeable.
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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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Sincerity is a certain openness of heart. It is to be found in very few, and what we commonly look upon to be so is only a cunningsort of dissimulation, to insinuate ourselves into the confidence of others.
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High fortune makes both our virtues and vices stand out as objects that are brought clearly to view by the light.
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Great and glorious events which dazzle the beholder are represented by politicians as the outcome of grand designs whereas they are usually products of temperaments and passions.
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A small degree of wit, accompanied by good sense, is less tiresome in the long run than a great amount of wit without it.
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Wisdom is the mind what health is to the body.
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